Scientists and international governing bodies have been very clear: In order to have a shot at limiting the worst impacts of global warming, investment in new fossil fuel projects must stop.

Yet the federal body that regulates America’s pipelines has created a perverse incentive for companies to keep building methane-leaking fossil fuel infrastructure that doesn’t serve anybody except shareholders.

In St. Louis, Missouri, a legal battle over a new pipeline called Spire STL is a glaring example of a nationwide problem: “self-dealing” between energy and pipeline companies fleeces customers and exacerbates the climate crisis, all with the government’s blessing.