Electricity bill too high? Wear slippers

Not to make light of a serious situation such as rising electricity bills, or a consumer group’s desire to show solidarity. In an era when pennies — and dollars — must be pinched to get by, solidarity over cost-of-living issues is a good thing.

That said, it was interesting to see that the Big Island Community Coalition, opposed to a surcharge to finance the use of biofuels to produce power, urged its members to wear rubber slippers to last night’s public hearing as a show of uniform solidarity.

This being Hawaii, what other footwear would folks don for a pau hana forum?

Of course, this may have been a smart strategic move. This way the Public Utilities Commission might have scanned the audience and figured that every last person was opposed. It also ruled out slippers as a footwear choice for commission members, too.

Women closing in on pay parity with men

It appears that Hawaii women at least approach the ideal of the Lilly Ledbetter law strengthening equal-pay protections for women, with or without the federal statute.

The National Women’s Law Center reports that women here are paid 81.9 percent for every dollar paid to a man, the 11th-highest rate in the nation.

There may be any number of theories on why this is so, but here’s one: Hawaii women have been in the workforce a lot longer than in many other states, contributing to a more equitable culture. In 1960, 42 percent were already in the labor force, 4 percent above the national average. Hawaii outpaced the national rate of working women for decades, although it’s more or less on par now.

So they’ve had more time to battle for the bucks, that’s all.