There’s no shortage of sunlight in Hawaii — so why is there a shortage of solar energy? That’s the question Ed Smeloff and David Hochschild would like to answer. The two alternative-energy advocates pioneered the trailblazing $100 million solar bond initiative passed by the city of San Francisco last year; as cofounders of Vote Solar, they hope to spread the solar gospel to other places. Last week, they went to Hawaii to build momentum for solar there, following a suggestion by Mazie Hirono, the state’s lieutenant governor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate, that Hawaii become the first state in the nion to consider solar bonds. Jeff Mikulina, the director of Sierra Club Hawaii, said, Looking at the amount of sunlight we have and the electric rates that we pay, [solar energy] would be even more cost-effective in Hawaii” than in San Francisco.
