Mexico Eliminates Daylight Saving Time, Should The U.S. Do The Same?

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Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, November 6th. For the majority of Mexico, this will be the last time they change their clocks back. Mexico's Senate approved a bill yesterday that would bring the habit of changing the clock forward and backward twice a year to a halt by eliminating daylight saving time altogether in the country.

Here in the U.S., we have been observing daylight saving time since the Standard Time Act of 1918 was passed. It was introduced during World War I as an effort to conserve energy resources and has since been adopted in many parts of the world, but the world as a whole does not observe this event every year.

With the approval in the Mexican Senate (59 - 25 with 12 abstentions) (ABC13), the bill is now on to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to sign into law. With his expected signature, Daylight Saving Time would officially come to an end in Mexico throughout the entire country, with some exceptions.

The Mexico states along the U.S./Mexico border with close ties to their American neighbors may still use the practice to match what's on the other side of the border.

While many are in favor of removing this ritual, there are those that are concerned about the late start of their stock market, some restaurant owners may close earlier now than in the past due to the fear of increased crime after dark against their patrons and their business, and shipping may be affected come spring when the time changes in other parts of the world.

Should the U.S. do away with Daylight Saving Time too?

There are two states in the U.S. that do not follow daylight saving time: Arizona and Hawaii. Although the Navajo Nation in Arizona observes DST because of their federal connections.  According to UPI, the U.S. Senate voted to get rid of it, but it has since been bogged down in Congress.