On January 30, the Saudi Arabian minister of petroleum Ali Al-Naimi delivered a speech at the Middle East and North Africa Energy 2012 conference that would give Sarah Palin nightmares, and though some time has passed since I’ve heard this speech, it’s message continues to resonate with me.

In the early 80s, an oil and gas company issued a press release about its plans to “frack” a well. But now, you will never hear anyone from the energy industry or conservative politics using the word “frack.” Instead you read “hydraulic fracturing,” or sometimes “fraccing” if they’re trying to be sneaky, or “clean energy” if they’re blatantly lying.  Even Obama didn’t use the word “frack” in his State of the Union address when he was offering praise for natural gas development.