Louisiana lawmakers sparred with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Thursday, with Rep. John Fleming, R-Minden, suggesting that the Obama administration is deliberately driving up gas prices to make alternative energy more competitive, and Rep. Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia, berating the department’s pace of issuing permits, even for work to safely plug abandoned wells.

“The permit process in New Orleans is at a dead standstill in terms of P&A (plug and abandon) work that the administration says needs to be done,” Landry told Salazar at a hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee.

Read more: U.S. Rep. Jeff Landry scolds Interior Department over pace of drilling permits