THIS WEEK'S HEAT WAVE should be taken as a short-term lesson in one of the

reasons why we should be doing everything possible to reverse or at least delay global warming.

Whether people wanted to express the temperature in terms of Celsius, Fahrenheit, Kelvin or Rankine, the combination of heat and humidity caused it to feel like, respectively, 41, 105.8, 314.15 or 565.47 degrees at its height.

In a word, that's too much for human comfort. And, when doors and windows were opened, those temperatures were reflected within the home. In the usual sequence of events, this caused air conditioners to be cranked up, resulting in a record electricity demand, and the need to burn even more coal at existing power plants to meet the demand.

We know that global warming cannot be viewed as the proximate, or immediate, cause of the upsurge in heat during a single week. But record temperatures are seen as a result of climactic change, and global warming - caused largely by greenhouse gases - is the cause of that.

Emission of greenhouse gases began with the Industrial Revolution. It is continuing today, despite the efforts of governments and individuals - such as the kids pounding the hot pavement in the Reduce the Juice campaign - to encourage alternatives.

Everyone, it seems, would like to see global warming halted.

Do they really?

We now have evidence that alternative energy sources, along with nuclear, to reduce or replace reliance on coal-fired plants, is effective. Dufferin's first wind plant, Melancthon I, proved that Tuesday afternoon and overnight Tuesday/Wednesday.

Yet Amaranth Councillor Percy Way got an ovation recently when he said in effect that he didn't want locally produced wind energy to feed the grid, where it would have the greatest impact on the general problem.

And, in Amaranth, we are witnessing the improbable spectacle of high-priced Toronto lawyers now co-ordinating a scientific peer review of an Environmental Screening Report for the second phase of the Melancthon wind project.

Are the lawyers involved at this stage to facilitate a rational decision, or to ensure that legal arguments against the project are served?

One has to wonder if Deputy Mayor Don MacIver answered that question when he said Amaranth would be able to say it had followed proper planning procedures if or when the development went to the Ontario Municipal Board.

Do we really want to do our part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Or do we expect others to do it for us?