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Volunteer Spotlight: Germán Ibáñez

German Ibanez citizens climate lobby

Germán Ibáñez (left) tabling with other Houston-area CCL volunteers

Volunteer Spotlight: Germán Ibáñez

By Flannery Winchester

Germán Ibáñez

Germán Ibáñez

At age 53, Germán Ibáñez works for global energy producer ENGIE, where he develops cogeneration plants for industries, universities, municipalities and even the military. He’s also a CCL volunteer in Houston, Texas, and he got connected after watching a CCL presentation by fellow Texans Ricky Bradley and Peter Bryn in 2015.

In his Volunteer Spotlight, Germán details some learning opportunities he’s encountered as a CCL volunteer, as well as times when his own professional expertise has made him an even more effective climate advocate.

What do you like about CCL?

I like the simple legislative ask. I wanted to use my marketing and lobbying skills for the effort. I have a background with the power industry and wanted to share my knowledge with the CCL community.

Please tell us about your main efforts or projects within CCL.

I was the CCL liaison to Tea Party Republican Rep. John Culberson from 2015 to 2017, and now I am learning about environmental justice as the liaison to Rep. Al Green. To learn about environmental justice, I reached out to the NAACP and Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (TEJAS) to understand their point of view and how they understood Carbon Fee and Dividend. I also reached out to EJ experts within CCL – Marti Roach from California and Dominika Dziegielewska from Mississippi.  

I’ve given a CCL presentation to NAACP youth group at their community center. I’ve also presented with a group of 17 area environmentalists to Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who is running against Sen. Ted Cruz in the upcoming 2018 election.

In 2015, I created a webinar for Citizens’ Climate University where I explained how fuel mix affects the emission profile for a region or a state.

Watch Germán’s CCU webinar here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCO80W2VV4I

CCL and work have also allowed me to become friendly with the City of Houston sustainability department and some council member staff. I will be representing my company on the Environmental Committee of the Greater Houston Partnership.

What keeps you motivated to do this work?

Learning new perspectives like the environmental justice perspective, and sharing of my power industry knowledge on the carbon pricing. I also speak Spanish and have not used it for this effort yet, but I hope to do so in the future.  

Got a suggestion for our Volunteer Spotlight series? Send the name, chapter and some brief info about the volunteer to Flannery Winchester at flannery @ citizensclimatelobby.org.

Flannery Winchester has put her words to work for magazines, for marketing agencies, and now for our earth as CCL's Communications Director. She is grateful to spend every day working to preserve this beautiful planet.