In his various roles in government, think tank and academia, Dr. Light has had many opportunities to express his opinions regarding China and the U.S.-China relationship. He appears to have long-seen the relationship between the U.S. and China as sharing the title–and the responsibility–of “world’s largest emitters” of greenhouse gas emissions, though recent years and Trump-era policies have brought Light to express concerns over the U.S. losing to China in clean energy superiority. Following the November 2020 elections, Dr. Light believes that Beijing is now bracing for renewed climate pressure by Washington.

Back in 2009, Light co-wrote a report with three other experts titled “A Roadmap for U.S.-China Collaboration on Carbon Capture and Sequestration” that explores the benefits and challenges in the United States and China countering climate change together. It also suggests that focusing on mutually-beneficial climate change solutions can “contribute to—in the words of presidents Hu and Obama—a ‘positive, cooperative and comprehensive’ Sino-American relationship for the 21st century…[and] become the cornerstone for a new era of greater cooperation between developed and developing countries” on resolving environmental problems. 

Light’s publicly-shared perspective on China does not appear to have changed by much as he still sees the U.S. and China as necessary partners in international climate policy. In a February 2019 congressional hearing, Light attributed “U.S. leadership, along with China…[as] essential to achieving the Paris Agreement” and the failure of the Kyoto Protocol to a “lack of U.S. participation.” When the Paris climate agreement was facing controversy upon the election of Donald Trump, Light commented that Beijing should “continue to work in the spirit that we worked together in and before Paris.” More recently in May 2020, he published a critique of Trump’s China policy that left out climate change accountability and noted the multiple hurdles the U.S. and China had already overcome to agree to the 2015 Paris Agreement. Like many in his field, Dr. Light believes that “[n]o one country can solve either problem by itself and without knowing what others are doing.” 

Light has also publicly acknowledged the efforts by the Chinese government in climate issues. For example, in a 2019 working paper, Light mentioned multiple examples of how the Chinese government has adjusted its climate policy, insinuating that Beijing is paying attention to the issue and is willing to work to diminish public concerns on climate change. 

In his testimony in February 2019 at a U.S. congressional hearing on the Paris Agreement, discussion on China was prevalent and demonstrated a detailed understanding of China’s decarbonization efforts. In a section dedicated to “Progress in China and India,” Light summarized:

While it is true that both China and India still have much progress to make in mitigating their emissions, they are taking major steps to do so, and have strong domestic incentives to make the transition to clean energy.

Light also detailed how “China has taken on a more prominent role on the international stage in combating climate change” following President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and, while “China remains the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide, and its emissions were projected to have increased by 4.7 percent last year…China will not be able to reverse course overnight, but it has already begun the process of decarbonizing its economy.” Furthermore, Light points out that “it is in China’s own interest to reduce its domestic carbon emissions, regardless of what any other country is doing.” 

Notably, not all of Light’s 2019 testimony was favorable on China: “Though there have been positive developments in China in recent years as was documented above, it can and should be doing more to lessen its overall contribution to global climate change,” critiquing China’s coal activities in developing countries. Furthermore, as a result of the lack of challenges and oversight under the Trump Administration on climate issues, he says:

China gets to have the best of both worlds. It can take action domestically and be seen as a global leader on climate change, while still exporting fossil-intensive technology to other countries without regard for their NDC targets. China benefits from the global influence it gains through development assistance, but due to a lack of U.S. engagement, they are not currently ensuring that this development is sustainable.

More recently, during his testimony during his confirmation hearing on June 8, 2021, Andrew Light listed three goals if he should take office: 1) job creation, 2) securing partnerships, and 3) winning the technologies of the future. In explaining his second goal, he characterized China as a competitor who can easily take away potential U.S. partnerships if unchecked:

…We have to go to them. If we don’t, then other countries will take those opportunities. While we have achieved some notable wins, we have also stood by while competitors, especially China, have created massive international energy development programs. If fully realized, China’s Belt and Road initiative will dwarf the Marshall Plan. And Belt and Road does not just build energy infrastructure around the world, it builds spheres of influence…

During this same hearing, he was asked multiple questions by committee members directly about or related to China, which are all summarized with Light’s answers in a submission to the record. For example, when asked whether the “Chinese Communist Party is an honest partner when they sign on to international agreements, such as the Paris Climate Agreement,” Light responded: 

I believe that the U.S. needs to tread very carefully with respect to Chinese engagement in international agreements…the U.S. has the power to deploy the Paris Agreement to hold major emitting countries like China to account…

When asked whether he supported “China’s efforts to gain technology transfer and investment from the U.S. and other countries, Light responded:

No. I take this concern seriously. If confirmed, I will continue DOE’s long standing work to address risk from China’s actions through DOE-specific actions, with the interagency, and through the CFIUS process where DOE plays a major role in protecting U.S. national security interests.

And when asked whether he had “any concerns about China’s efforts to gain technology transfer and investment from the U.S. and other countries” or
“concerns about collaboration with China – and in particular, with affiliates of the Chinese Communist Party,” Light responded, respectively:

Yes…DOE has developed a series of policy initiatives to reduce the risk posed by specific threats, including threats posed by certain foreign governments, to the U.S. research enterprise including the DOE national laboratories.

Yes, I have significant concerns about collaboration with China and DOE has taken action to mitigate risk…

When asked whether he agreed with the statement that “China steals technology and intellectual property from U.S. companies and labs. China uses forced labor and China manipulates markets in materials like rare earth and solar panel production to its advantage,” Light responded with a “Yes”, soon after noting that the U.S. DOE “is not currently engaging in active collaboration with China on climate change.”

If confirmed, I will take these concerns seriously and take action to address them…

Light was also asked more specific questions, such as whether “it’s realistic to expect that China will stop funding coal plants” (“In the near term, no.”), Russia’s growing involvement in the Arctic, nuclear technology competition, and other related topics.