On Sept. 17, Austin mayoral candidate Travis Duncan came to the Electric Utility Commission to offer his thoughts on clean energy – a key focal point of his platform called “ecological wisdom.” Duncan suggested that the commission should focus on sequestering carbon emissions. “I think that we should sell our stake in Fayette (Power Plant) and use those hundreds of millions of dollars to plant hemp,” he said. Not only did he explain that hemp plants were an excellent choice for mitigation, but he also encouraged the commission to look into powering the city with 100 percent renewable energy. “We could be 100 percent renewable in six months if we got our act together,” he explained, making reference to new technologies on the market, like Langenburg Technologies, which claims to “process contaminated and biologically unsafe water and transforms it into clean, highly purified drinking water as well as provides clean energy on a large scale.” Duncan said that the solution to clean energy is going to be found outside the box. “Listen beyond the experts, who are unfortunately a little bit ignorant,” he said. “I never knew it was that easy,” commented commission Chair Cary Ferchill.
Travis Duncan thinks the future is in hemp
