不到一个月，美国大部分地区将把时钟调慢一小时，继续执行每年两次的时钟调整周期。一些议员正试图终结这种做法，但遭到了其他人的反对。
In less than a month, most of the U.S. will fall back an hour, continuing the cycle of biannual clock changes. Some lawmakers are trying to end that practice—but are facing pushback from others.
今年7月，众议院以跨党派支持通过了一项法案，该法案提议在美国全年实行夏令时——这是多年来致力于取消时钟调整的最新进展。唐纳德·特朗普总统曾多次敦促国会通过该法案。然而，这项立法如今在参议院的前景尚不明朗。本周早些时候，参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩告诉《政治报》，他的同事们对于是否推进这项措施尚未形成“共识”。
In July, the House passed a bill with bipartisan support that would instate Daylight Saving Time year-round across the U.S.—the latest step forward in a yearslong effort to eliminate the clock change. President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged Congress to pass the bill. But the legislation now faces an uncertain future in the upper chamber. Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune told POLITICO that there is no “consensus” among his colleagues on whether to advance the measure.
图恩表示：“总统对这件事的态度非常坚定，就像他对许多其他问题一样。我们正在就此展开讨论，但目前还没有明确的推进路径或共识。”以下是该法案的具体内容、一些参议员支持它的原因，以及另一些参议员反对的理由。《阳光保护法案》会带来什么变化？
“The President feels strongly on it like he does a lot of issues,” Thune said. “It’s something we’re having conversations about, but there’s no clear path forward or consensus on it yet.”Here’s what the bill would do, why some senators are backing it, and why others aren’t.
美国大部分地区遵循每年两次调整时钟的做法：每年3月夏令时开始时将时钟调快一小时，每年11月夏令时结束时则调慢一小时，以遵循标准时间。
What would the Sunshine Protection Act do?
这一制度普遍不受民众欢迎。美联社/NORC去年进行的一项民意调查显示，反对目前每年两次调整时钟的美国民众比例高于支持者——47%对12%。
Most of the country follows the practice of changing the clocks twice a year, jumping forward an hour every March when Daylight Saving Time begins and falling back every November when it ends to observe Standard Time. The system is widely unpopular.
对于是否希望全年实行夏令时还是标准时间，美国民众的意见则稍显分歧，但前者通常获得更多支持。根据去年美联社/NORC的调查结果，56%的民众支持永久实行夏令时，而支持标准时间的比例为42%。
Polling conducted by the Associated Press/NORC last year shows that more Americans oppose the current biannual clock change than those who support it—47% compared to just 12%. Americans are a bit more divided on whether they would rather observe Daylight Saving Time or Standard Time year-round, though the former tends to garner more support.
目前，联邦法律允许各州选择不实行夏令时，全年保持标准时间；夏威夷州和亚利桑那州大部分地区已作出这一选择。不过，各州并不被允许永久实行夏令时。去年夏天在众议院通过的《阳光保护法案》将改变这一现状。
Fifty-six percent support permanent Daylight Saving Time, compared to 42% for Standard Time, according to last year's AP/NORC poll. Currently, federal law allows states to forgo Daylight Saving Time and stay in Standard Time throughout the year; Hawaii and most of Arizona have chosen to do so. States aren’t allowed, though, to observe Daylight Saving Time permanently.
如果该法案在参议院获得通过并由总统签署成为法律，那么夏令时将在全国范围内永久实施——不过各州也可以选择退出。为什么一些参议员支持永久实行夏令时呢？
The legislation that passed the lower chamber over the summer, called the Sunshine Protection Act, would change that. If the bill succeeds in the Senate and is signed into law by the President, it would make Daylight Saving Time permanent nationwide—though it would allow states to opt out if they choose.
过去曾支持全年实行夏令时的参议员们认为，大多数美国人都讨厌每年两次调整时间，并称这种做法“过时了”。他们还指出，如果永久保留夏令时，那么全年太阳落山的时间都会比现在晚，而不仅仅是夏季，他们声称这将鼓励人们更多地参与户外活动。
Why are some senators supporting permanent Daylight Saving Time? Senators who have expressed support for making Daylight Saving Time year-round in the past have argued that most Americans dislike the biannual clock changes, calling the practice “antiquated.”
佛罗里达州的共和党参议员里克·斯科特（Rick Scott）是《阳光保护法案》最积极的倡导者之一。去年，当他在上议院提出该法案的一个版本时，斯科特在一份声明中表示，他听到选民们反映：“他们已经受够了每年两次调整时钟——这是一项不必要的、延续数十年的做法，对家庭来说更多是麻烦，而非好处。”他还补充说，他认为这是一项“合乎常理的改革，将简化并改善美国家庭的生活。”
They have also pointed out that remaining in Daylight Saving Time permanently would mean that the sun would appear to set later throughout the year, rather than just in the summer, which, they claim, would encourage people to engage in more outdoor activity. Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott is one of the most vocal backers of the Sunshine Protection Act. In a statement last year, when he introduced a version of the bill in the upper chamber, Scott said that he hears from constituents that “they are sick and tired of changing their clocks twice a year—it’s an unnecessary, decades-old practice that’s more of an annoyance to families than benefit to them.”
“对许多美国人来说，多出一个小时的日照时间意味着有更多时间与孩子一起户外玩耍、遛狗或与邻居相处，”他周三在X平台上发帖称。“美国人民工作努力，他们值得拥有更多自由时间来享受户外生活的一切。现在是时候通过我的《阳光保护法案》，让他们能尽情享受每一缕阳光。”
He added that he believes this is a “common-sense change that will simplify and benefit the lives of American families.”“For many Americans, an extra hour of daylight means more time to play outside with their kids, walk their dog, or spend time with neighbors,” he said in a post on X on Wednesday.
7月，来自华盛顿州的民主党参议员帕蒂·默里（Patty Murray）对众议院通过该法案表示赞赏，并称下议院“兑现了一项全美人民真正想要的承诺：再也不用调整时钟。”她在一份声明中说：“我清楚地意识到，共和党人仍然拒绝采取任何行动来减轻家庭的经济负担，或追究特朗普政府滥用权力的责任。但如果国会能够通过永久实行夏令时，我将抓住这个机会促成此事。”
“Americans work hard, and they deserve more free time to enjoy all the outdoors has to offer. It’s time to pass my Sunshine Protection Act [so] they can enjoy every ounce of sunshine.”In July, Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington, applauded the House for passing the bill, saying that the lower chamber “delivered on something Americans all across the country actually want: to never have to change their clocks again.”
她接着表示，在她的家乡州，冬季通常下午4点天就黑了。她说，她的选民们已经“非常明确地表明”，他们希望全年实行夏令时。
“It’s not lost on me that Republicans still refuse to do literally anything to make life more affordable for families or to hold the Trump administration accountable for its daily abuse of power, but if Congress can enact permanent Daylight Saving Time, I will take this opportunity to make it happen,” she said in a statement. She went on to say that, in her home state, it often gets dark around 4 p.m. in the winter months.
去年斯科特提出该法案的一个版本时，来自两党的其他参议员也表达了对这项措施的支持。
Her constituents, she said, have “made it abundantly clear” that they want to observe Daylight Saving Time year-round.
“倒拨时钟、再拨回这种令人头昏的仪式，对我们的经济、健康与幸福感都产生了切实的影响，”马萨诸塞州的民主党参议员埃德·马基当时在一份声明中表示。“让我们告别冬季下午4点的日落，通过《阳光保护法案》，实行永久夏令时——让全年傍晚都更明亮。”虽然永久夏令时确实意味着全年日落时间都会推迟，但这对美国人具体意味着什么，取决于他们居住在美国的哪个地区。
When Scott introduced a version of the bill last year, other senators from both parties also expressed their support for the measure. “The head-spinning ritual of falling back and springing forward has a very real impact on our economy, our health, and our happiness,” Sen. Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said in a statement at the time. “Let’s say goodbye to 4pm winter sunsets and pass the Sunshine Protection Act for permanent Daylight Saving Time—permanently springing forward for brighter evenings year-round.”
有些地区本就比其他同个时区的地区晚大约一小时迎来日出和日落，这意味着美国部分地区在早晨会比其他地方更晚才能看到天光。例如，据AccuWeather预测，如果夏令时永久化，印第安纳波利斯的居民在2027年1月15日当天，要到当地时间上午9点之后才能看到日出，而美国其他地区则会在当地时间上午8点左右迎来日出。
While it’s true that permanent Daylight Saving Time would mean later sunsets year-round, what that would look like for Americans depends on where in the country they live. Some places already experience sunrises and sunsets an hour or so after other places in the same time zone do, which means that some parts of the U.S. wouldn’t see daylight until much later in the morning than others.
正因如此，一些参议员反对推行全年夏令时的立法。参议院中反对《阳光保护法案》最激烈的声音来自阿肯色州的共和党参议员汤姆·科顿。他此前曾表示，实行永久夏令时将“再次让冬季成为数百万美国人黑暗而灰暗的时节”。科顿还指出，美国此前尝试这一举措时并不成功。1974年，美国曾开始全年实行夏令时，但这一做法在美国民众中并不受欢迎，国会因此在政策生效仅几个月后便废除了相关立法。
In Indianapolis, for instance, residents would only see the sunrise after 9 a.m. local time on Jan. 15, 2027, if Daylight Saving Time were made permanent, AccuWeather predicted, while other parts of the country would see the sunrise around 8 a.m. their time. Because of that discrepancy, some senators have objected to legislation that would establish year-round Daylight Saving Time. The most vocal opponent of the Sunshine Protection Act in the upper chamber has been Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, who has previously said that observing permanent Daylight Saving Time would “again make winter a dark and dismal time for millions of Americans.”Cotton has also pointed out that the U.S. has unsuccessfully tried this move before. In 1974, the U.S. began observing Daylight Saving Time year-round, but it was unpopular among Americans and Congress repealed the legislation that had instituted the change just months after it took effect.
“没有人喜欢调整时钟，我也不例外，”科顿周六在社交媒体上发帖时承认。但他认为，永久实行夏令时会导致“冬季日出时间荒谬地晚”。他继续说道：“阿肯色州的人不希望自己的孩子天黑蒙蒙亮就上学，而我会始终把阿肯色州放在首位。”
“No one likes changing the clock, me included,” Cotton acknowledged in a social media post on Saturday. But he argued that permanent Daylight Saving Time would result in “absurdly late sunrises in the winter.”“Arkansans don’t want their kids going to school in the pitch dark, and I’ll always put Arkansas first,” he continued.
密西西比州共和党参议员罗杰·威克周一告诉记者，他注意到，在一些更靠北和更偏远的州，“孩子们需要在非常早的时间登上校车，这引发了一些人的安全担忧”。睡眠专家反对全年实行夏令时的想法，因为他们认为标准时间最符合人体的昼夜节律。美国睡眠医学学会等组织则主张永久采用标准时间，认为这对健康和安全更有利。
Sen. Roger Wicker, a Republican from Mississippi, told reporters on Monday that he was aware that some people have “safety concerns in the more northern and rural states where children get on the school bus in very early hours.”Sleep experts have opposed the idea of year-round Daylight Saving Time because they argue that Standard Time aligns best with people’s circadian rhythms. Organizations such as the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, have pushed for making Standard Time permanent instead, arguing that it would be better for health and safety.