Tonight Al Gore will be screening his film, An Inconvenient Truth, to a crowd of about 1,500 people at U of T’s Convocation Hall. 23,000 people tried to get tickets, according to The Toronto Star’s article. Tickets sold for $20. Now, those who had bought tickets to see the film are deciding that selling the ticket at 10 times the face value is a little more prudent than an education from Mr. Climate himself:

“I thought about the money and whether or not I was that committed to seeing Al Gore,” Vicky, who asked her last name not be used, said yesterday in an email. “I figured that since I even contemplated parting with the tickets that I might as well try selling them.”

Now, she hopes they’ll fetch as much as $200 each, 10 times their face value.

“An associate of mine had four tickets – one pair sold for $400 and the other for $500,” she said.

On the other side of the fence, buyers, one of whom describes himself as “desperate,” have posted offers to pay $100 to attend Gore’s two-hour show.

Desperate? Wow.

The Star’s explanation for people selling out: Gore is popular!

[The deals] simply reveal how Gore’s popularity has soared in the past year, as the release of the movie version of his presentation coincided with growing concern about climate change.

“He’s definitely got the star power,” Ingrid Stefanovic, director of the U of T’s Centre for Environment, which is hosting tonight’s event, said in an interview.

Or, one could say that, on the supply side, people care more about making a 1000% profit on a $20 investment. What, people might care more about money than about Al Gore? Or about, say it ain’t so, climate change?

And, The Star’s coverage wouldn’t be complete without the obligatory swipe at, let’s see, Right Wing Commentators (check), Conservative US School Boards (check), oil companies (check), Evangelicals (check), and George Bush (and check)…with a healthy bit of praise for the UK:

Now, Gore is in high demand and cool – or, perhaps, hot. His film, book and talks are having a major impact on the climate-change debate.

As just one example: DVDs of An Inconvenient Truth are being distributed to every high school in England, Wales and Scotland.

Right-wing commentators mock him. Conservative U.S. school boards insist an “opposing view” be available before the film or book goes into classrooms. Groups funded by oil companies have attacked him on the Internet. Some evangelical churches shun the film, and Bush has said he won’t watch it.

The Star seems to be saying - Gore is way popular…look, people are scalping tickets. But, the bad right wingers are trying to stop him. However, he is so popular, he can’t be stopped - momentum is gaining.

Whatever. It is just a weird article.

Oh, and, how will Gore be traveling to the event?:

Today’s stop in Toronto will be brief.

Gore will get a police escort from Pearson Airport to Convocation Hall, have a bite to eat, present his show, spend the night in an undisclosed hotel, then depart. “It’s a real fly-in, fly-out affair,” Stefanovic said.

But, The Star is sure to clarify:

Gore isn’t being paid for the presentation. The university is covering his expenses and, through Zerofootprint, a Toronto non-profit organization, will invest in projects that offset the greenhouse gases produced by transportation for the event.

Yeah. Gore is a superhero.

More: Ian at Hot Air has video of Hannity’s America which seeks to explore Gore’s Carbon Emissions. No comment.

Also, check out this article on Climate Change as Religious Belief: Is Environmentalism the New Religion?

Posted by casey on Wednesday, February 21st, 2007 at 11:34 am.