On Sunday November 4, most Americans will “fall back” after a summer of longer days. But California’s Proposition 7 could change the way daylight saving works.
In Arizona, daylight saving hasn’t been a thing for more than 50 years.
Let’s be clear: Prop 7 doesn’t actually abolish daylight saving. It repeals the 1949 rule that established the practice in California. This would allow the legislature to look at other options—like keeping daylight saving year round.
CapRadio asked historian Calvin Schermerhorn at Arizona State University how life without clock changes works there. He said in the desert, longer days just meant more air conditioning.
Farmers didn't like it, either.
"An extra hour of daylight in the evening doesn't necessarily help things, if you've got an extra hour of darkness in the morning when you've gotta go out and gather crops,” Schermerhorn said.
But there are some challenges with not making the switch, like for companies trying to do business in other time zones.
“I guess it’s been going fine,” Schermerhorn said. "But the problem is, for half the year we have to readjust, or tell people, well actually we’re still on Mountain Standard Time—which means, for all intents and purposes, that's Pacific Daylight Time.”
He said things could shift if California abolishes the practice
“Then there’s maybe an unbroken chain between Hawaii which does not participate and Arizona which does not participate. California may be a tipping point for others, at least in the West,” Schermerhorn said.
Even if Prop 7 passes and the governor signs a bill, the change requires Congress's approval.