Since the passage of the stimulus bill in February, we haven't seen President Obama make the kind of last-minute pitch for a piece of legislation that he just made today for an energy bill on the docket in Congress.

"I can't stress enough the importance of this vote," Obama said in a brief Rose Garden statement.

He said he expects it to be close, "in part because of the misinformation that's out there that suggests there's somehow a contradiction between investing in clean energy and our economic growth." He said the energy bill is a jobs bill.

"This legislation will finally make green energy the profitable kind of energy," he said, which will spur new industries that will create new jobs that can't be outsourced.

"My call to those members of Congress who are still on the fence, as well as to the American people, is this: We cannot be afraid of the future. And we can't be prisoners of the past."