Dear editor:

I am writing to express my strong opposition to recent proposals — both at the federal level and here in Wyoming — to adopt daylight saving time year-round. While "more evening sunlight" may sound appealing, permanent DST would further divorce our civil time from the natural rhythm of the sun.

The fundamental purpose of timekeeping is to align human activity with the natural world. For millennia, "high noon" meant exactly what it said: The moment when the sun reaches its highest point.

When we adopt DST, we declare that 1 p.m. is "noon," pushing our clocks a full hour ahead of the sun. Under permanent DST, solar noon in Cheyenne would regularly fall around 1:15 p.m. or later.

Consider the reality right now: Civil noon and solar noon in Wyoming are separated by over 76 minutes. When the clock strikes noon, the sun won't reach its highest point until nearly 1:16 p.m. Without DST, that gap would shrink to just over 16 minutes — still not perfect, but far closer to the natural order. Permanent DST would lock us into this misalignment year-round.

For thousands of years, sundials served humanity as simple instruments for reading true local solar time. When the shadow points north, it is solar noon. Under permanent DST, sundials would become practically useless — off by a full hour from civil time, relegated to garden decorations rather than functional timekeeping.

Wyoming has a proud history of respecting solar time. Before 1883, communities kept local time, setting clocks to noon when the sun stood highest.

On Nov. 18, 1883 — the "Day of Two Noons" — railroads instituted standardized time zones. Wyoming was placed in the Mountain Time Zone, centered on the 105th meridian, where solar and clock time aligned reasonably well. It was a practical compromise respecting both commerce and nature.

Standard time was already a concession to uniformity. DST, introduced during World War I and made permanent in the 1960s, pushed us further from solar reality. Now Congress is considering the Sunshine Protection Act of 2025 (H.R. 139 in the House and S. 29 in the Senate), which would make DST the permanent, year-round standard nationwide. Meanwhile, Wyoming's House Bill 0044, passed in 2020 and signed by Gov. Mark Gordon, stands ready as a "trigger law" that would automatically move Wyoming to year-round DST if Congress acts and at least four neighboring Western states pass similar legislation.

This rush toward permanent DST ignores the wisdom of keeping civil time anchored to solar time. Farmers, ranchers, and anyone who works outdoors still live by the sun, not the clock. Children waiting for school buses in dark winter mornings under permanent DST would face unnecessary danger.

Our circadian rhythms are governed by sunlight, not legislation. When civil time drifts too far from solar time, we pay the price in health, safety, and our connection to the natural world. The solution is simple: If we must change, let us adopt year-round standard time rather than DST.

Respect the time zone system that has served Wyoming well for over 140 years. The sun doesn't need our help "saving" daylight. It rises and sets as it always has, indifferent to our clocks.

Let's keep civil time as close to solar time as possible. End daylight saving time for good.

Eriks Goodwin

Dubois