Daylight Saving Time in Hawaii Failed; Now the US Wants to Join Hawaii

 Daylight Saving Time in Hawaii Failed; Now the US Wants to Join Hawaii

 

Hawaii won't observe Daylight Saving Time (DST) this weekend, despite the majority of you doing so. Under the Uniform Time Act, Hawaii has never observed daylight saving time.

 

Daylight Saving Time was abandoned by Hawaii more than 50 years ago.

Hawaii, which rejected DST more than 50 years ago, is still waiting for the rest of the nation and the rest of the world to do the same. In 1933, Hawaii made a brief attempt at DST, lasting only three weeks. The Territorial Legislature enacted a measure on April 26, 1933, putting Hawaii on DST from the last Sunday in April through the last Sunday in September. Three weeks after it was passed, on May 21, 1933, the statute was nullified. It was once more in effect during World War II under the name Hawaiian War Time. In 1967, Hawaii formally decided to reject the Uniform Time Act.

 

Hawaii will be 3 hours ahead of the west coast until this fall.

Also, the east coast will be six hours behind Hawaii. Mountain and central states are 4 and 5 hours later respectively.

 

Question: Why has Hawaii never adopted Daylight Savings Time?

Answer: First and foremost, Hawaii’s sunrise and sunset times do not vary much.

With a latitude near to Mexico City and a location far further south than any of the continental states, Hawaii does not significantly benefit from daylight savings time. The idea behind daylight savings was to theoretically change the time to take use of the available natural light. Hawaii's proximity to the equator means that dawn and sunset times don't vary nearly as much as they do further north. Find out if this notion even holds up by reading on.

 

The other U.S. locations and territories that do not have daylight savings are:

• Arizona (most of the state)

• American Samoa

• Guam

• Northern Mariana Islands

• Puerto Rico

• United States Virgin Islands

Except for Arizona, the above locations are in a similar situation to Hawaii in terms of latitude. Arizona unsuccessfully tried daylight savings in the 1960s before opting out.

 

Why do we observe daylight saving time?

In the United States, daylight savings time was first observed in 1918, during World War I, more than a century ago. Although the intended benefits for farmers and fuel savings were indicated, it is now widely accepted that they were intended to encourage retail buying during the brighter evening hours. As people would spend more time engaging in recreation and sports with longer days, it was also thought to be healthy.

 

Daylight Saving Time was only used in New York City after World War I. Before 1942, when a national DST policy was put into place. The United States is required to observe six months of standard time and six months of daylight saving time each year, according to the Uniform Time Act of 1966.

 

Cities and counties could no longer decide on DST because states had to opt in or out. Arizona chose not to. Since then, the U.S. has switched to a longer DST observance, lasting eight months every year since 2005.

 

Similar to the U.S., Europe follows a similar schedule but does not always go from "summertime" to normal time on the same day. It makes it even more difficult. In two weeks, Europe will switch from standard time to summer time.

The goal of Congress is to make Daylight Saving Time a national institution.

Congress is considering legislation that would make the transition from standard time to daylight saving time permanent. Although it was unanimously approved by the Senate last year, the House never passed it. It has turned back on.

 

"This twice-yearly practice of changing the time is foolish. The majority of the public and members of both parties support locking the clock. I'm hoping we can finally do this during this Congress. – Marco Rubio, senator.