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Permanent daylight saving time was already tried in the U.S. and lasted less than a year. Would it work now?

C1🇪🇸 Español → 🇺🇸 English

July 16th, 2026

Permanent daylight saving time was already tried in the U.S. and lasted less than a year. Would it work now?

Please note: This article has been simplified for language learning purposes. Some context and nuance from the original text may have been modified or removed.

🇺🇸 English

It is an idea whose time, so to speak, may have come again.

Es una idea cuyo momento, por así decirlo, podría haber llegado de nuevo.

The practice of changing the clocks twice a year in the United States could become a thing of the past if the current legislative initiative in Congress proposing permanent daylight saving time succeeds.

El cambio de reloj dos veces al año en Estados Unidos podría ser cosa del pasado si prospera la actual iniciativa legislativa en el Congreso que propone el horario de verano permanente.

However, no matter how annoying some may find the back-and-forth of the time change in spring and autumn, that does not necessarily mean that sticking to a single time would be well received.

Pero por más molesto que algunos encuentren el ir y venir del cambio de hora en primavera y otoño, eso no significa necesariamente que mantener uno solo fuera bien recibido.

The United States has already tried this before, most recently in the 1970s, and it did not last.

Estados Unidos ya lo ha intentado antes, más recientemente en la década de 1970, y no duró.

We now find ourselves facing a new era, characterised by a rise in the number of people who work from home and who did not do so before, as well as by advances in sleep science that reveal a more nuanced story.

Ahora nos encontramos ante una nueva era, marcada por un aumento de personas que trabajan desde casa y que antes no lo hacían, así como por avances en la ciencia del sueño que revelan una historia más matizada.

Could it be that this time the change will prove to be permanent?

¿Cabría la posibilidad de que esta vez el cambio resultara ser el definitivo?

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly endorsed a bill on Tuesday that permanently establishes daylight saving time, a time system in which clocks are set forward by one hour.

La Cámara de Representantes respaldó de manera contundente el martes un proyecto de ley que instaura de forma permanente el horario de verano, régimen horario en el cual los relojes se adelantan una hora.

Currently, the change involves advancing clocks in spring and setting them back to standard time in autumn, with the aim of providing more daylight hours during summer evenings.

Actualmente, el cambio consiste en adelantar los relojes en primavera y retrasarlos al horario estándar en otoño, con el objetivo de proporcionar más horas de luz durante las tardes estivales.

However, the biannual change enjoys little support: a survey conducted by AP-NORC last year revealed that only 12% of American adults support it, while nearly half oppose it.

No obstante, el cambio semestral cuenta con escaso respaldo: una encuesta de AP-NORC realizada el año pasado reveló que solo el 12 % de los adultos estadounidenses lo apoya, mientras que casi la mitad se opone.

Among the advocates for a single time system are the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, organizations for which circadian rhythms are of fundamental importance.

Entre los defensores de un horario único se encuentran la Asociación Médica Estadounidense y la Academia Estadounidense de Medicina del Sueño, organizaciones para las cuales los ritmos circadianos revisten una importancia fundamental.

The Senate would have to ratify it before it could be enacted into law.

El Senado habría de ratificarlo antes de que pueda ser promulgado como ley.

President Donald Trump has expressed his support in this regard.

El presidente Donald Trump ha expresado su respaldo al respecto.

Not so fast.

No tan rápido.

Although people may not like making the switch, history shows that they also do not tolerate living with even less morning light during the winter months, when daylight hours are shorter than in summer.

Aunque a la gente pueda no gustarle hacer el cambio, la historia muestra que tampoco tolera vivir con aún menos luz matutina en los meses de invierno, cuando las horas de luz son más cortas que en verano.

In 1973, Congress passed a law establishing permanent daylight saving time, which was intended as a trial period spanning from January 1974 to April 1975.

En 1973, el Congreso aprobó una ley que instauraba el horario de verano permanente, el cual se preveía como un período de prueba que abarcaría desde enero de 1974 hasta abril de 1975.

However, it only lasted until October, when it was repealed following public outcry.

No obstante, solo perduró hasta octubre, cuando fue derogado tras la protesta pública.

Among the concerns was the fear that school-age children would have to attend classes in the dark.

Entre las inquietudes figuraba el temor de que los niños en edad escolar tuvieran que asistir a clase en la oscuridad.

Nowadays, school start times have begun to be pushed back.

En la actualidad, las horas de inicio de las clases han comenzado a retrasarse.

Kevin Birth, a professor of anthropology at Queens College whose research focuses on cultural conceptions of time, was attending elementary school in Syracuse, New York, at that time and remembers it vividly.

Kevin Birth, catedrático de antropología en el Queens College cuya labor investigadora se centra en las concepciones culturales del tiempo, cursaba la educación primaria en Syracuse, Nueva York, en aquel entonces y lo rememora con nitidez.

"I had to get up for school and it felt like midnight," he stated.

"Tenía que levantarme para ir a la escuela y parecía medianoche", manifestó.

"It was pitch black and remained so throughout the entire school day."

"Estaba completamente oscuro y continuó siéndolo durante toda la jornada escolar".

If the US decides to try again, he said, it will have to implement changes that go beyond a simple time adjustment.

Si EE. UU. decide intentarlo de nuevo, dijo, tendrá que implementar cambios que vayan más allá de un simple ajuste horario.

It would be necessary to reconfigure the time zones nationwide, as the current four zones prove inadequate: they cover such a vast territorial expanse that dawn occurs at notably disparate hours between the western and eastern extremes of each one.

Sería necesario reconfigurar los husos horarios a nivel nacional, ya que las cuatro zonas actuales resultan inadecuadas: abarcan una extensión territorial tan vasta que el amanecer se produce a horas notablemente dispares entre los extremos occidental y oriental de cada una.

July 16th, 2026

The Lingo Times

Permanent daylight saving time was already tried in the U.S. and lasted less than a year. Would it work now?

Permanent daylight saving time was already tried in the U.S. and lasted less than a year. Would it work now?

🇺🇸 English

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