Is Michigan Getting Ready To Give The Boot To Time Changes?

Twice every year, we change the time on our clocks and set off a week of poor sleep and bad work effort. Is it possible Michigan will soon repeal the annual spring leap to Daylight Saving Time?

This weekend, we'll return to early darkness and Eastern Standard Time, but two enterprising Michigan lawmakers are considering repealing the time change in the Mitten State.

State Representative Jeff Irwin initiated the idea last spring when we sprung ahead to Daylight Saving Time introducing a bill to ban the time change in Michigan, now Representative Peter Lucido of Shelby Township has proposed a bill of his own, House Bill 4986, which would implement Eastern Standard Time year round (except in some Western Upper Peninsula counties already under Central Standard Time), officially eliminated those wonderful 10:30pm UP sunsets.

“Daylight saving time hasn’t done what it was supposed to do, which was save energy as a result of needing to have less lights on,” Lucido told Michigan Capitol Confidential last week. “Empirical studies have shown that it hasn’t been effective in achieving that. Meanwhile, modern computers, servers and other electric devices that people rely on — including automobile clocks — don’t always make smooth adjustments to the twice-a-year time changes.”

He went on to say, “There is also the physiological effect the time switches have on people, as a business owner I’ve seen the negative impacts the time changes can have. People are tired, tardy more often, don’t function as well and even suffer ill effects immediately after the changes.”

This is a polarizing issue in Michigan, with half the state seeming to be behind such an idea, but an equally vocal half hating it because they love the late sunlight Daylight Saving Time gives them.

This discussion on the subject on Reddit demonstrated the split. Redditor Arphahat said: "The sooner this DST nonsense ends, the better. Losing that hour always messes me up for months. ", while GobiasBlunke likes things just the way they are, "I'll revolt if they try and take my 930 pm June sunlight."

What say you? Would you be willing to give up the late summer sunset for the sake of not getting your sleep disrupted twice a year?