发表于 2025年11月2日
Love it or hate it, daylight saving time (DST) is one of the world’s most persistent experiments in tinkering with the sun. Roughly one-third of countries worldwide still practice it, but not without controversy.
In the United States, the federal government first standardized the twice-yearly clock change in 1966. Today, people in almost all U.S. states—with the exceptions being Hawaii and most of Arizona—“springs forward” in March and “falls back” in November. In recent years, multiple states have proposed or passed legislation to make daylight saving time permanent, but those laws can’t take effect without Congress’s approval.
But the U.S. has tried it before. In January 1974, Americans turned their clocks ahead in an experiment designed to last nearly two years—an effort to conserve energy amid an unexpected oil crisis. Yet the change became “very unpopular very quickly,” says David Prerau, author of Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time.
Here’s what went wrong when America tried to live on daylight saving time.
WHY THE U.S. ADOPTED DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME
Though the idea of DST surfaced before the 20th century, Germany was the first country to institute it nationwide in 1916—an attempt to save on fuel during World War I. The U.S. followed two years later with the Standard Time Act of 1918, which not only established the nation’s five time zones but also introduced daylight saving for part of the year. This approach gave war industry and factory workers an extra hour of natural sunlight—but the DST portion of the legislation was repealed after the war’s end.
The idea returned in World War II, when the U.S. adopted year-round daylight saving—known as “war time”—from February 1942 to September 1945. After the war, states and cities were left to decide for themselves whether to observe it. Still, the inconsistencies in local time caused mass confusion—notably in the transportation and broadcast industries.
A solution came in the form of the Uniform Time Act of 1966, designed “to promote the observance of a uniform system of time throughout the United States.” In states that opted to observe the change, clocks would advance one hour from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October.
WHEN THE U.S. TRIED PERMANENT DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME
By the early 1970s, the U.S. faced a new kind of crisis—limited energy supplies. After the country backed Israel during the Yom Kippur War, Arab members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) imposed an oil embargo on the U.S. As gas prices skyrocketed, the federal government sought to reduce energy consumption, such as lowering speed limits on U.S. highways. Then another idea surfaced.
Daylight saving time had once helped conserve fuel during wartime—so why not try it again? “It didn’t have much opposition when it was put in. It seemed like a reasonable thing to try,” Prerau says.
Congress passed a bill instituting such a measure in December 1973, and President Nixon signed it into law the next day. The move was meant to last nearly two years and, at first, Americans embraced it: a national survey that month found 79 percent supported the change.
At 2 a.m. on January 6, 1974, most of the country collectively sprang forward.
WHY PERMANENT DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME FAILED
The shift to year-round daylight-saving time began with some confusion. Airlines scrambled to update schedules, and hundreds of tourists in Puerto Rico missed their flights back to the mainland when clocks jumped ahead on January 6.
Within weeks, the country feared that saving energy came at an unexpected cost: safety. In many parts of the nation, the sun now rose at 8:30 a.m. or later, forcing children to walk to school in predawn blackness. A United Press International article recommended that children carry small flashlights, employ a buddy system, and wear reflective tape to make them visible to motorists.
The Hartford Courant reported that four Connecticut teenagers were struck by cars on their way to school the day after daylight saving time took effect. In Florida—where Gov. Reubin Askew unsuccessfully urged U.S. lawmakers to switch back the clocks—eight students were fatally struck by vehicles within a few weeks.
Public support plummeted. By February, only 42 percent of Americans still backed the new schedule, according to the National Opinion Research Center—but not everybody hated the change. Los Angeles resident Terry McQuilkin argued that it benefited people who work later hours. In a letter to The Los Angeles Times, McQuilkin wrote, “The rest of us will appreciate daylight saving time in a month or so, when the sun rises at the time we wake up.”
The National Safety Council, however, reported no notable increase in early-morning student fatalities between January 1973 and January 1974, according to United Press International. But growing concerns seemed to overshadow any potential benefits. Soon after Nixon’s resignation amid the Watergate scandal in August 1974, the House voted to end the experiment.
The Senate followed, acknowledging that while the policy saved an estimated 100,000 barrels of oil a day from January through April 1974, the public’s distaste for dark winter mornings outweighed any benefits, The New York Times reported. President Gerald Ford signed into law an amendment that returned the nation to standard time, from October 27 through the last Sunday in February 1975.
WHY DO WE STILL HAVE DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME?
Half a century later, the argument over daylight saving time continues. Even as the federally mandated start and end dates for DST have shifted over the years, some U.S. lawmakers continue to advocate for year-round DST or, in some cases, standard time.
Surveys tell a mixed story about whether U.S. adults would prefer permanent daylight saving or standard time, but the latest Gallup data suggests that more favor the latter.
For years, proponents of federal legislation to make DST permanent have cited potential economic benefits and the advantages associated with “more time for sunshine.” Critics of year-round daylight saving have said the practice disrupts sleep and might have negative health effects.
Matthew Kotchen, professor of economics at the Yale School of the Environment, argues that DST might do more harm than good when it comes to energy consumption. But ultimately, Kotchen says, Americans are passionate about DST “in exactly opposite directions.”
“I think that what we have now, roughly, is the middle way,” Kotchen says.
Love it or hate it, daylight saving time (DST) is one of the world’s most persistent experiments in tinkering with the sun. Roughly one-third of countries worldwide still practice it, but not without controversy.
无论你喜欢与否，夏令时（DST）都是全球范围内一项最持久的、旨在调整日照时间的实验。全球约三分之一的国家仍在实行这项制度，但争议也从未停止。
In the United States, the federal government first standardized the twice-yearly clock change in 1966. Today, people in almost all U.S. states—with the exceptions being Hawaii and most of Arizona—“springs forward” in March and “falls back” in November. In recent years, multiple states have proposed or passed legislation to make daylight saving time permanent, but those laws can’t take effect without Congress’s approval.
在美国，联邦政府在1966年首次将每年两次的时钟调整（夏令时）标准化。如今，除了夏威夷州和亚利桑那州大部分地区以外，几乎所有美国州的人们都在三月将时钟“拨快”（即进入夏令时），并在十一月“拨慢”（即恢复标准时间）。近年来，许多州已经提议或通过立法，希望将夏令时永久化，但这些法律未经美国国会批准，就无法生效。
But the U.S. has tried it before. In January 1974, Americans turned their clocks ahead in an experiment designed to last nearly two years—an effort to conserve energy amid an unexpected oil crisis. Yet the change became “very unpopular very quickly,” says David Prerau, author of Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time.
但是，美国以前就尝试过这种做法。1974年1月，美国人在一项旨在持续近两年的实验中将时钟拨快，此举是为了在意外的石油危机中节约能源。然而，正如《抓住白昼：夏令时奇特而充满争议的故事》（Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time）一书的作者戴维·普雷劳（David Prerau）所说，这项改变“很快就变得非常不受欢迎”。
Here’s what went wrong when America tried to live on daylight saving time.
以下就是当美国尝试全年实行夏令时制时，出现的问题。
WHY THE U.S. ADOPTED DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME
美国为何采用夏令时
Though the idea of DST surfaced before the 20th century, Germany was the first country to institute it nationwide in 1916—an attempt to save on fuel during World War I. The U.S. followed two years later with the Standard Time Act of 1918, which not only established the nation’s five time zones but also introduced daylight saving for part of the year. This approach gave war industry and factory workers an extra hour of natural sunlight—but the DST portion of the legislation was repealed after the war’s end.
尽管夏令时（DST）的概念在20世纪之前就已出现，但德国是第一个在全国范围内实行夏令时的国家，那是在1916年——此举旨在第一次世界大战期间节省燃料。两年后，美国也效仿了这一做法，通过了1918年的《标准时间法案》（Standard Time Act of 1918），该法案不仅确立了美国的五个时区，还在一年中的部分时间实行了夏令时。这种做法让战时工业和工厂的工人多了一个小时的自然光照——但这项立法中关于夏令时的部分在战争结束后就被废除了。
The idea returned in World War II, when the U.S. adopted year-round daylight saving—known as “war time”—from February 1942 to September 1945. After the war, states and cities were left to decide for themselves whether to observe it. Still, the inconsistencies in local time caused mass confusion—notably in the transportation and broadcast industries.
这个想法在第二次世界大战期间再次被提出，当时美国从1942年2月到1945年9月实行了全年夏令时，被称为“战时”。战争结束后，各州和各城市被允许自行决定是否沿用夏令时。然而，各地时间的不一致造成了极大的混乱，尤其是在交通和广播行业中表现得尤为明显。
A solution came in the form of the Uniform Time Act of 1966, designed “to promote the observance of a uniform system of time throughout the United States.” In states that opted to observe the change, clocks would advance one hour from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October.
解决方案以《1966年统一时间法案》（Uniform Time Act of 1966）的形式出现，该法案旨在“促进在全美国范围内遵守统一的时间制度”。在选择实行这项规定的州，时钟会在每年四月的最后一个星期日到十月的最后一个星期日期间拨快一小时。
WHEN THE U.S. TRIED PERMANENT DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME
美国曾尝试永久实行夏令时
By the early 1970s, the U.S. faced a new kind of crisis—limited energy supplies. After the country backed Israel during the Yom Kippur War, Arab members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) imposed an oil embargo on the U.S. As gas prices skyrocketed, the federal government sought to reduce energy consumption, such as lowering speed limits on U.S. highways. Then another idea surfaced.
到20世纪70年代初，美国面临着一种新的危机——能源供应有限。在赎罪日战争（Yom Kippur War）期间，美国支持以色列之后，石油输出国组织（欧佩克，OPEC）的阿拉伯成员国对美国实施了石油禁运。随着汽油价格飙升，联邦政府寻求减少能源消耗，例如降低美国高速公路上的限速。接着，又一个想法浮出水面。
Daylight saving time had once helped conserve fuel during wartime—so why not try it again? “It didn’t have much opposition when it was put in. It seemed like a reasonable thing to try,” Prerau says.
夏令时曾在战时帮助节约燃料——那么为什么不再次尝试呢？普雷罗（Prerau）说：“夏令时实施之初，并没有遇到太多反对。这似乎是个值得一试的合理方案。”
Congress passed a bill instituting such a measure in December 1973, and President Nixon signed it into law the next day. The move was meant to last nearly two years and, at first, Americans embraced it: a national survey that month found 79 percent supported the change.
1973年12月，美国国会通过了一项旨在实施这项措施的法案，尼克松总统第二天就将其签署成为法律。这项举措原计划持续近两年，起初美国民众对此表示欢迎：当月一项全国调查显示，79%的受访者支持这项改变。
At 2 a.m. on January 6, 1974, most of the country collectively sprang forward.
1974年1月6日凌晨2点，美国大部分地区统一将时间拨快了一小时。
WHY PERMANENT DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME FAILED
永久夏令时为何失败？
The shift to year-round daylight-saving time began with some confusion. Airlines scrambled to update schedules, and hundreds of tourists in Puerto Rico missed their flights back to the mainland when clocks jumped ahead on January 6.
实行全年夏令时一开始就造成了一些混乱。航空公司手忙脚乱地更新航班时刻表，而波多黎各的数百名游客则因为1月6日时钟拨快而错过了返回美国本土的航班。
Within weeks, the country feared that saving energy came at an unexpected cost: safety. In many parts of the nation, the sun now rose at 8:30 a.m. or later, forcing children to walk to school in predawn blackness. A United Press International article recommended that children carry small flashlights, employ a buddy system, and wear reflective tape to make them visible to motorists.
几周之内，全国上下都开始担心，节约能源带来了意想不到的代价：安全问题。在全国许多地方，太阳要到早上8:30或更晚才升起，这使得孩子们不得不在黎明前的黑暗中步行去学校。一篇合众国际社（United Press International）的文章建议孩子们携带小手电筒，实行“结伴同行”制度，并佩戴反光条，以便让驾车者更容易看到他们。
The Hartford Courant reported that four Connecticut teenagers were struck by cars on their way to school the day after daylight saving time took effect. In Florida—where Gov. Reubin Askew unsuccessfully urged U.S. lawmakers to switch back the clocks—eight students were fatally struck by vehicles within a few weeks.
《哈特福德新闻报》(The Hartford Courant) 报道称，在夏令时生效的第二天，康涅狄格州有四名青少年在上学途中被汽车撞倒。在佛罗里达州——该州州长鲁宾·阿斯丘 (Reubin Askew) 曾徒劳地敦促美国立法者将时钟拨回——几周内也有八名学生在事故中丧生。
Public support plummeted. By February, only 42 percent of Americans still backed the new schedule, according to the National Opinion Research Center—but not everybody hated the change. Los Angeles resident Terry McQuilkin argued that it benefited people who work later hours. In a letter to The Los Angeles Times, McQuilkin wrote, “The rest of us will appreciate daylight saving time in a month or so, when the sun rises at the time we wake up.”
公众支持率骤降。截至2月份，根据美国国家舆论研究中心（National Opinion Research Center）的数据，只有42%的美国人仍然支持这项新方案——但并非所有人都讨厌这一改变。洛杉矶居民特里·麦奎尔金（Terry McQuilkin）认为，夏令时对那些工作时间较晚的人有益。麦奎尔金在致《洛杉矶时报》（The Los Angeles Times）的一封信中写道：“我们其他人会在大约一个月后，当太阳在我们起床时升起时，就会体会到夏令时的好处了。”
The National Safety Council, however, reported no notable increase in early-morning student fatalities between January 1973 and January 1974, according to United Press International. But growing concerns seemed to overshadow any potential benefits. Soon after Nixon’s resignation amid the Watergate scandal in August 1974, the House voted to end the experiment.
然而，据合众国际社报道，全国安全委员会的数据显示，在1973年1月至1974年1月期间，清晨学生死亡人数并没有显著增加。但日益增长的担忧似乎盖过了任何潜在的好处。1974年8月，在水门事件丑闻中尼克松总统辞职后不久，众议院投票决定结束这项实验。
The Senate followed, acknowledging that while the policy saved an estimated 100,000 barrels of oil a day from January through April 1974, the public’s distaste for dark winter mornings outweighed any benefits, The New York Times reported. President Gerald Ford signed into law an amendment that returned the nation to standard time, from October 27 through the last Sunday in February 1975.
参议院也紧随其后，承认尽管这项政策在1974年1月到4月期间每天节省了约10万桶石油，但公众对黑暗冬日早晨的厌恶情绪盖过了它带来的任何好处，《纽约时报》报道称。杰拉尔德·福特总统签署了一项修正案，规定从1974年10月27日到1975年2月的最后一个星期日，全国恢复使用标准时间。
WHY DO WE STILL HAVE DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME?
我们为什么还要实行夏令时？
Half a century later, the argument over daylight saving time continues. Even as the federally mandated start and end dates for DST have shifted over the years, some U.S. lawmakers continue to advocate for year-round DST or, in some cases, standard time.
半个世纪过去了，围绕夏令时的争论仍在继续。尽管联邦政府规定的夏令时（DST）起始和结束日期多年来有所调整，但一些美国立法者仍然主张全年实行夏令时，或者在某些情况下，主张实行标准时间。
Surveys tell a mixed story about whether U.S. adults would prefer permanent daylight saving or standard time, but the latest Gallup data suggests that more favor the latter.
调查结果显示，关于美国成年人究竟是更喜欢永久夏令时还是标准时间，大家的看法不一，但盖洛普最新的数据显示，更多人倾向于后者（即标准时间）。
For years, proponents of federal legislation to make DST permanent have cited potential economic benefits and the advantages associated with “more time for sunshine.” Critics of year-round daylight saving have said the practice disrupts sleep and might have negative health effects.
多年来，那些支持联邦立法以永久实行夏令时（DST）的人，都提到了其潜在的经济效益以及“更多阳光时间”带来的好处。而全年实行夏令时的批评者则表示，这种做法会扰乱人们的睡眠，并可能对健康产生负面影响。
Matthew Kotchen, professor of economics at the Yale School of the Environment, argues that DST might do more harm than good when it comes to energy consumption. But ultimately, Kotchen says, Americans are passionate about DST “in exactly opposite directions.”
耶鲁大学环境学院经济学教授马修·科钦（Matthew Kotchen）认为，在能源消耗方面，夏令时（DST）可能弊大于利。但科钦说，归根结底，美国人对夏令时的态度截然相反。
“I think that what we have now, roughly, is the middle way,” Kotchen says.
“我认为，我们现在所处的，大致上是一种折中方案，”科琴说。