Jeremy Paxman interviewed Al Gore on Newsnight last night, to ask him about Copenhagen but also about the changes he’s made in his own life to reduce his carbon footprint.

Paxman asked “you suggest that tackling this problem will involve huge changes in human behaviour, how have you changed our behaviour?” Gore replied that he had changed his lightbulbs and windows, dug geothermal wells, switched to a hybrid car and covered his roof with solar panels. He said he was “walking the walk, not just talking the talk” and that he had “long since committed to this path and am proud to have done so”.

But on one question, the story is a little different.

Paxman: Have you become a vegetarian?

Gore: No, I have not, although for health reasons, along with climate reasons have reduced the amount of meat in my diet, of course, as we all know it’s much healthier to have more vegetables and fruits instead of meat and actually the growing meat intensity of diets around the world is a legitimate issue where climate is concerned.

Paxman: We should become vegetarians if we’re concerned about the planet, shouldn’t we?

Gore: I don’t plan to, I respect those who do, but it’s a personal choice and will remain so.

So, to tackle climate change we all need to make huge changes to the way we live, but that is just a personal choice? Considering the devastating impacts of climate change already occuring in the world today and the massive implications for future generations, is it not a moral obligation? What is it with meat? Why is it that Gore, like so many others, is prepared to do everything else but not stop eating meat?

It’s all very well for those with plenty of spare cash to invest in new technology such as solar and geothermal energy and hybrid cars, but for all the rest of us, this just isn’t even remotely possible. What can we do? Going vegetarian is one of the most effective and cheapest ways to reduce our carbon footprint, whilst also being healthier - just think of the additional energy savings in the carbon intensive hospitals and pharmaceutical companies if we all ate more fruit, veg and wholegrains instead of meat! Cutting down on meat seems to be doing Gore some good at least, he’s clearly lost weight.

UK residents can watch the Gore interview online at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/newsnight