On Wednesday, October 26, Mexico’s Senate decided to get rid of daylight savings time by putting an end to changing the time twice a year. This can have a change in most of the country. Mexico originally adopted daylight savings in 1996 in order to reduce the energy consumption and tourism with the United States.

The Senate approved the votes on a 59-25. Many of the people who opposed of this said that this can affect the many opportunities for both children and adults to get exercise in the afternoon. This would also mean that darkness would start falling an hour earlier on summer afternoons. Furthermore, this would have an impact on the rhythm that people have that is in a way linked to sunlight. This can result in more people becoming tired and can result in dangerous accidents in the darker mornings.

There have been many comments being made during this time, for example Energy Minister Rocio Nahle told Mexican News Daily, “according to scientific evidence, there are no significant changes in sunlight in countries near the tropics. Therefore, there is no justification.”

Many supporters like outdoor industries have said this would increase their sales because “consumers would have more time to spend their money after work or school.” They also said that by getting rid of this, this would increase the well-being and productivity of many people, which will result in the contribution to saving electric energy.

This debate took about 15 hours to decide whether they should get rid of daylight savings time in Mexico, which was first introduced in 1996. As of now, there have been about 71% of supporters who agreed and 29% who disagreed to eliminate daylight savings time. There were about 59 senators who voted in favor of eliminating daylight saving time, and 25 senators who opposed of this bill. 

With the Senate approving of the daylight savings time bill, it brings some closure to “a debate that has raged in Mexico for years.”