Robert M. Pepé is a resident of Lewes. This was also sent to various Delaware officials.
Lawmakers are once again entertaining the idea of permanent daylight saving time. The concept resurfaces every few years, usually wrapped in the appealing promise of “more daylight” and “more evening activity.” But, beneath the surface, this proposal is neither new nor harmless. In fact, the United States tried permanent DST once before — and it failed so badly that Congress reversed it within months.
I remember that failure clearly. In late 1973, during the Arab oil embargo, Washington searched for ways to conserve energy. Gas lines stretched for blocks. Odd-even rationing was imposed. Speed limits were cut. NASCAR shortened races. And then, in January 1974, President Richard Nixon signed the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act, believing that shifting an hour of daylight would reduce fuel consumption.
What policymakers failed to consider was simple: More daylight in the evening means more darkness in the morning.
Under permanent DST, sunrise in winter arrived well after 8 a.m. Children across the country walked to school or waited at bus stops in pitch-black predawn conditions. Vehicle collisions increased. Parents protested. Public support collapsed. After roughly 10 months, Congress abandoned the experiment.
We learned the hard way that permanent DST is not a solution; it is a safety hazard. Fast-forward to today. Delaware passed its own permanent-DST bill in 2019, but it cannot take effect unless Congress changes federal law. Yet Dover continues to revisit the idea, as if the outcome will somehow be different this time. It will not. The laws of nature have not changed. Winter mornings in Delaware will still be dark, and our children will still be the ones standing in it.
I live in a community with many young families. We have no sidewalks. We have insufficient street lighting. Students walk along narrow streets to reach the main entrance for the bus. Drivers often exceed posted limits or fail to slow down for pedestrians. It is already risky enough in daylight. Under permanent DST, these children would be walking and waiting in the predawn darkness for months at a time. That is not progress. That is preventable danger.
Delaware families deserve leaders who focus on real problems, not recycled ideas that failed half a century ago. Permanent daylight saving time is not innovation; it’s a repeat of a dangerous mistake that put children in harm’s way and delivered nothing in return. We already lived through the consequences once, and pretending the outcome will be different now is wishful thinking at best and irresponsible at worst. If lawmakers choose to resurrect a failed experiment, they should be prepared to explain why they ignored history, evidence and basic common sense. Darkness is not progress.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
