The White House on Thursday managed to put together an event that allowed President Barack Obama to tout both of his top priorities, using remarks on innovation to trumpet the ideas behind his health care reform and climate change policies.

Obama, who spoke at the White House about innovation after a meeting with the CEOs of “some of the most innovative energy companies— in the country, said they represent the same kind of forward-looking strategies he claims are embodied in his health care and energy plans

“So much of the debate around health care, so much of the debate around energy, has been based on this idea that somehow if we stand still and we don’t do anything that we’re going to be better off,— Obama said. “What these folks are all about is the future, and that’s what America has always been about. We are not folks who are scared of the future or look backward.—

Republicans say they want health reform and progress on alternative energy — just not the type envisaged by Obama.

But Obama isn’t sure when renewable energy will come to the White House in the form of solar panels and the like, growing a little impatient when pressed on the matter.

“I was just talking to [Energy] Secretary [Steven] Chu about how he is going to consult with these outstanding folks to figure out how we can improve energy efficiency here— at the White House, he said. “I just told you — we’re moving. Come on, guys. I don’t have a date certain.—