Does Obama Ever Want to 'Go Off Like a Roman Candle' on Republican Climate-Change Skeptics?

President Barack Obama admits in an interview set to air Monday that there are times when he'd love to get in the faces of those in the House Republican caucus who don't buy global-warming science.

Specifically, interviewer Thomas L. Friedman asked Obama if he ever just wants to "go off on them" once in a while.

Friedman cuts loose in his interview with President Obama. (Image source: Showtime/YouTube)

"I mean go off like a Roman candle!" Friedman clarifies further. "'What is it with you people? Your kid is sick, you consult a hundred doctors, 97 of them tell you to do this, three tell you to do that, and you want to go with the three! That's not conservative!' Do you ever once in a while just wanna (Friedman makes screeching noise)?"

Obama replied with a laugh, “Uh, yeah, absolutely."

Image source: Showtime/YouTube

The president's comments, part of the final episode of Showtime's "Years of Living Dangerously," were also noted in Friedman's New York Times opinion piece published Sunday — although he left out his "Roman candle" reference and other strident parts of his latter question in the Times piece.

“Look, it’s frustrating when the science is in front of us. ... We can argue about how. But let’s not argue about what’s going on," Obama told Friedman. "The science is compelling."

"The baseline fact of climate change is not something that we can afford to deny. And if you profess leadership in this country at this moment in our history, then you’ve got to recognize this is going to be one of the most significant long-term challenges, if not the most significant long-term challenge, that this country faces and the planet faces."

Friedman notes that the president added: “The person who I consider to be the greatest president of all time, Abraham Lincoln, was pretty consistent in saying, ‘With public opinion there’s nothing I cannot do, and without public opinion there’s nothing I can get done,’ and so part of my job over these next two and a half years and beyond is trying to shift public opinion. And the way to shift public opinion is to really focus in on the fact that if we do nothing our kids are going to be worse off.”

Obama's newest statements on global warming come on the heels of the Environmental Protection Agency releasing new standards, calling for a 30 percent cut to carbon emissions from power plants by 2030.

Here's part of the interview via YouTube:

(H/T: The Huffington Post)