Oftentimes, politics in Washington can start to feel predictable. But for those who care about addressing climate change, last week the Senate produced an unexpected bombshell worthy of a season finale. After declaring that there was no deal to be had on tax reform and climate change, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced that he had reached a deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on a blockbuster reconciliation package to invest in climate change and clean energy solutions, lower health care costs and reduce the deficit.

Especially after the Supreme Court limited the (Environmental Protection Agency) EPA’s ability to effectively regulate greenhouse gas emissions in the power sector, signaling its general skepticism of ambitious regulatory action even when that’s what Congress intended, the spending power is now an essential plank of reversing the effects of climate change. But wherever public funds are invested, some will try to take advantage, engaging in waste, fraud and abuse that hurts the taxpayers and blunts the effectiveness of important programs.

Under the False Claims Act (FCA), it is illegal to, among other things, knowingly present a false claim to the government for payment or approval. These frauds can be reported in a confidential complaint to the Department of Justice by a whistleblower. Whistleblowers can be traditional insiders, but they need not be affiliated with the fraudster, for example a competitor.

The Inflation Reduction Act of...

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