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Utah considers ditching daylight saving time

Daylight savings time was originally proposed in the late 1800s as a way to provide more daylight for activities during the summer, but the birth of modern electricity and technology has made it less relevant.

By Aileen Graef
Utah would be the third state to end Daylight Savings Time. UPI/Kevin Dietsch
Utah would be the third state to end Daylight Savings Time. UPI/Kevin Dietsch | License Photo

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Utah lawmakers are considering stopping the practice of changing clocks for daylight saving time after hearing popular support for the measure in a survey.

State Rep. Lee Perry, R-Perry, and state Sen. Aaron Osmond, R-South Jordan, are leading the push for the legislation.

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"I've got parents frustrated because their kids are going to school in the dark," Perry told the Washington Post.

Sixty-seven percent of the survey's respondents said they preferred to stay on Mountain Standard Time year round, 18 percent believe in daylight saving time all year and 15 percent like the current system.

The ones who don't like the idea are recreational and tourism entities including Ski Utah, the Utah Tourism Industry Association and Farmington, Utah, amusement park Lagoon.

"The net result would basically be one less hour of significant operation and revenue per day," said Dick Andrew, Lagoon's vice president of marketing. "We believe this would also be the case for the travel and tourism industry across the state."

Daylight saving time was originally proposed in the late 1800s as a way to provide more daylight for activities during the summer, but the birth of modern electricity and technology has made it less relevant. Congress nationally enacted it in 1918.

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Arizona and Hawaii are the only states that don't adhere to daylight saving time, but Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are considering ending the annual ritual.

The rest of the country should be ready to "fall back" one hour when daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Nov. 2.

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