Category 6 hurricanes? They’re already here.

Correction: In today’s commentary an electrification advocate wrote that the International Code Council was violating its own rules to allow appeals that could strip electrification-ready measures from a recommended code update. Our summary has been updated to better reflect their stance.

CLIMATE: Scientists propose a new Category 6 for hurricanes, saying storms are already exceeding current categories as the world warms. (Axios)

ALSO: A new peer-reviewed study suggests the world already exceeded the Paris Agreement threshold of 1.5 degrees warming in 2020, and that it’s on track to exceed 2 degrees in the next few years. (Grist)

HYDROGEN: Researchers and fossil fuel companies explore the viability of ​“gold” hydrogen that’s sourced via underground drilling. (E&E News)

CARBON CAPTURE: A Bill Gates-backed startup this week plans to begin capturing carbon in Arkansas by turning woody biomass from paper mills into bricks to be stored underground. (E&E News)

FOSSIL FUELS:

• More than 150 Republicans and seven Democrats criticize the Biden administration’s pause on new LNG export terminal approvals, saying the country should expand its gas exports instead. (The Hill)
• Environmental and Indigenous advocates ask a U.S. appeals court to overturn the Willow drilling project’s federal approval, saying agencies failed to consider climate impacts. (Alaska Public Media)
• New Jersey lawmakers discuss a proposed constitutional amendment that would block building or reactivating fossil fuel-fired power plants. (New Jersey Monitor)
• Two advisers tasked with evaluating the climate impacts of a federal bank’s investment decisions resign as it considers funding a drilling project in Bahrain. (New York Times)

SOLAR: Puerto Rico’s governor signs a bill to extend the island’s net-metering program and protect its generous solar credits to accelerate the clean energy transition, even as other states move to slow or dismantle their programs. (Grist)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Industry experts say ensuring both homeowners and renters can install electric vehicle charging equipment at home is key to speeding the EV transition. (Utility Dive)
• A Chicago-area regional government agency offers communities a blueprint for upgrading electric vehicle charging infrastructure. (Energy News Network)

CLEAN ENERGY:

• Clean energy groups criticize Xcel Energy’s long-term energy plan that calls for 2,200 MW of new natural gas peaking plants and extends the life of three waste-to-energy plants. (Utility Dive)
• Washington state’s carbon cap-and-trade program has raised $2 billion for clean energy projects, but opponents want to rescind it over unproven claims it drives up gasoline prices. (Washington Post)

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: The U.S. EPA holds listening sessions to ​“ground-truth” its efforts in environmentally stressed communities as President Biden nears the end of his first term. (Inside Climate News)

GRID:

• North Carolina clean energy groups endorse Duke Energy’s proposal for a local, more proactive transmission planning process that could become a model for the Southeast. (Utility Dive)
• Despite congressional funding, projects to build and expand transmission lines between Texas wind farms and eastern cities have stalled in a clogged permitting system. (Houston Chronicle)

COMMENTARY: The global body that sets model building codes is allowing appeals that could strip electrification-ready measures from a recommended code update, a building electrification advocate writes. (ACEEE)