( CNN ) -- On Sunday , November 2 , it will again be the end of Daylight Saving Time . Many of us will be muttering to ourselves as we wander around resetting all of our various clocks -- on the thermostat , clock radio and stove , among other places . Sure , you 'll get an extra hour of sleep by turning back the clock by an hour in the fall . But if you have a regular day job , you 'll be commuting home in the dark instead of in daylight come the following day . Why do we do this every fall ? And why do we dial forward the clock by an hour every spring ? Daylight Saving Time has been around for a good part of 20th century , but there 's no really good reason why we should continue with the status quo . The U.S. government started moving into and out of `` Daylight Saving Time '' during World War I to copy the Germans , who said they were doing it to save fuel . When the war ended , the U.S. government wisely repealed the law since it proved unpopular . During WWII , it came back -- again with the notion that it would somehow conserve resources . After the second war , the U.S. converted factories from making bombs to making cars and consumer products . The GIs came home . But Daylight Saving Time just stuck around . Numerous polls show that people want to stay in Daylight Saving Time year round , or at least just stick with either Standard or Daylight time and stop switching clocks around . Two states , Arizona and Hawaii , already keep their clocks the same all year long . We may have reached a tipping point to end the clock-changing madness . First , the U.S. Department of Energy issued a report in 2008 that examined the impact of extended Daylight Saving Time . A four-week extension would save approximately 0.5 % of electricity per day for the country . Put in perspective , it 's enough energy to power 100,000 households for a year . The second strong case for staying in Daylight Saving Time year round is that we can save lives . A recent study shows the switching of clocks in the spring causes a 25 % jump in heart attacks in the few days following the switch , confirming earlier research that point out the shift in time can disrupt the quality of sleep and biological rhythms . Taking away an hour of sleep and jolting you awake in the predawn darkness is simply bad for your health , especially if you are elderly or have a heart condition , researchers noted . So here 's the question : If you have a chance to save lives and save electricity , would you do it ? Sure you would , right ? But you have n't , and neither have I . Why ? Maybe because we 're all a little too sleep deprived and discombobulated to do something after all that clock-changing . Last year , a member of the Missouri legislature proposed moving the state to permanent Daylight Saving Time if 19 other states would join its effort . The state House voted to approve the measure , HB340 , but it did n't go anywhere in the Senate . The idea is smart and worth revisiting . The hard part is how to get this more traction . Here 's an alternative proposal : Legislatures pass a bill whereby if at least 31 other states pass similar bills , their state will then switch to permanent Daylight Saving Time . With Arizona and Hawaii already in , that adds up to two-thirds , or 33 , states . Thirty-three is the number of states needed to pass a constitutional amendment , and while this is not a constitutional issue , it seems like a good standard to meet . So how can we convince all these local governments to take on this initiative ? We need help from students , who can create interdisciplinary projects combining science , math , social studies and government , to show why we need to get rid of this outdated concept . If we all pitch in a little , we 'll be able to save energy and lives . In short , it 's about time .
On Sunday , November 2 , it will again be the end of Daylight Saving Time . Scott Yates : Stop the clock-changing madness and move to permanent Daylight Saving Time . The clock is set back one hour on Saturday, December 31, so that we can have a full day of daylight saving time in 2014 instead of just half - day. Yates : Let 's try to get at least 31 states to form a pact to keep Daylight Saving Time .