美国《基督教科学箴言报》6月26日发表加拿大Queen's University, Kingston教授
James Miller 题为 How Confucianism could curb global warming
（《儒学如何可能遏制全球变暖》），摘要如下（英语原文附后）：
中国学者开始公开讨论儒家、佛教、道教在推动和谐社会和生态可持续的经济发展中的作用。作为世界上最大的温室气体排放国，中国处理环境问题的重要性尤为显着。科学家认为，气候变化对穷人和弱势群体的影响会不成比例地严重，并且对未来世代的影响远远超过当前。
目前，国际社会对中国有关环境问题的一般印象还并不乐观，原因在于中国没有按照西方模式去解决。但是，中国环保部副部长潘岳号召中国借助传统宗教的力量，推动生态可持续性。
他说，“中国传统文化的核心原则之一就是人与自然的和谐。不同的哲学流派都在强调让环境平衡的政治智慧。无论是儒家的天人合一，还是道家的道法自然，或是佛家的众生平等，中国的哲学已经帮助我们的文化存活了几千年。这可以成为一件有力的工具，防止环境危机，建设和谐社会。”
事实是，这可能真的有效。如《纽约时报》最近报道的，中国正处于向更清洁能源转型的中心。虽然中国的大多数能源仍然来自于低能效的煤电厂，对污染的排放也鲜有记录，中国却也开始在清洁煤技术方面大力投入，以期提高能效，减少排放。
由于这一原因，尽管国际能源机构提高了对中国经济增长的预期，他们却将中国全球温室气体排放增长的预期从3.2%下调至3%。中国正设法让经济增长的速度超过排放的增长。在问及决定投资更昂贵但也更清洁的技术时，中国最大的国有电力企业华能集团总裁曹培玺说，“我们不应该纯粹从财务角度看这个项目，它代表着未来。”
摆在全世界经济学家和政治家面前的问题是，如何超越“纯粹财务角度”，从更整体性的层面决策。这对西方的经济和政治理论家来说很难回答，因为他们的理论是基于启蒙时期的观点：即人都是为其个人利益考虑的理性个体。
但是，我们应当怎样为还未出生的一代考虑，并将他们的利益纳入决策中？
尊重过去和未来世代的利益是儒家有关自我和集体观点的核心。对于“我是谁”这个问题的回答，儒家的答案是“我是父母的孩子，也是我孩子的父母。” 儒家理论的出发点是人都是延续几百年的血缘关系的产物。从这个角度说，个人的利益与其前辈和后辈的利益都是息息相关的。
这是瞭解中国处理当下和未来环境问题的一个关键因素。看看儒学学者的主要代表蒋庆的观点。根据清华大学政治理论教授丹尼尔•贝尔最近的一份报告，蒋提出了一种政治制度，将通常被现代民主制度忽略的一群人的利益考虑在内，这些人包括外国人、未来世代、祖先。他问道，“民主制真的是保护全球变暖未来受害者的最佳方式么？”
随着中国在世界舞台上承担越来越重要的领导角色，我们可以想见，将会出现植根于多种文化传统（包括儒学）的可持续发展模式。
西方化就是唯一可靠发展模式的时代已经结束了。
from the June 26, 2009 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0626/p09s01-coop.html
How Confucianism could curb global warming
China openly debates the role of Eastern thought in sustainability.
By James Miller
Kingston, Ontario
Now here's a curveball to secular Western policy experts: China's intellectuals are openly debating the role of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism in promoting the Communist Party's vision of a harmonious society and ecologically sustainable economic development.
Nowhere is the question of what to do about the environment more vital than in China, the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases – especially because scientists agree that climate change disproportionately affects the poor and the disenfranchised and that climate change will affect future generations far more than the present.
Yet the general impression of China's role in issues relating to environment is one of foot-dragging because it hasn't bought into a Western model to address it.
But Pan Yue, China's vice minister for environmental protection, is calling for China to capitalize on traditional Chinese religions in promoting ecological sustainability.
He says, "One of the core principles of traditional Chinese culture is that of harmony between humans and nature. Different philosophies all emphasize the political wisdom of a balanced environment. Whether it is the Confucian idea of humans and nature becoming one, the Taoist view of the Tao reflecting nature, or the Buddhist belief that all living things are equal, Chinese philosophy has helped our culture to survive for thousands of years. It can be a powerful weapon in preventing an environmental crisis and building a harmonious society."
And this just might work.
As The New York Times recently reported, China is in the midst of a transformation to cleaner forms of energy.
Although much of China's energy needs are still met by inefficient, coal-fired power stations with poor track records in terms of emissions, China has begun to invest heavily in cleaner coal technology in an effort to improve efficiency and reduce emissions.
Because of this, the International Energy Agency reduced its estimate of the increase in Chinese emissions of global warming gases from 3.2 percent to 3 percent even as the same agency raised its estimate of China's economic growth. China is managing to increase its economic output at a greater rate than its emissions.
This is good news for everyone.
But buried innocuously in the middle of this report was the startlingly frank statement of Cao Peixi, president of the China Huaneng group, China's largest state-owned electric company.
When asked about his company's decision to invest in more expensive but cleaner technology he replied: "We shouldn't look at this project from a purely financial perspective. It represents the future."
The $64,000 question facing economists and politicians across the world is how to make decisions that take into account the big picture beyond the "purely financial perspective."
This is a hard question for Western economic and political theorists to answer, because their theories are based on the Enlightenment view of the self as an autonomous, rational individual.
But how are we to make decisions that take into account the interests of those who have not yet been born?
Being respectful to the interests of past and future generations is key to the Confucian view of the self and groups. To the question, "Who am I?" the Confucian answers, "I am the child of my parents and the parent of my children."
Confucianism begins from the proposition that human beings are defined by kinship networks that span the centuries. From this perspective the interests of the individual are bound up with the interests of the kinship group as it extends forward and backward across the generations.
This will be a key factor in the way China handles present and future environmental issues.
Consider the views of Jiang Qing, a leading Confucian intellectual. According to a recent report by Daniel Bell, a political theorist at China's Tsinghua Univeristy, Mr. Jiang proposes a political system that can take into account the interests of those who are typically ignored in modern democracies, such as foreigners, future generations, and ancestors.
"Is democracy really the best way to protect future victims of global warming?" he asks.
As China assumes a greater leadership role on the world stage, we can expect the emergence of a variety of models of sustainable development rooted in a plurality of cultural traditions, including Confucianism.
The time when Westernization was the only credible model of development is over.
James Miller is a professor of Chinese studies in the Department of Religious Studies at Queen's University, Kingston. He is currently researching the relationship between religion, nature, and modernization in China.