Take a look at the two interactive maps below. The first shows the most up to date foreclosure data from across the US by zip code, generously shared with EDF's Climateatlas from hotpads.com. The other map shows the population growth, also by zip code, during the time frame of 2000-2003. Notice anything? Yep. The communities that had the highest population growth rate between 2000-2003 have the highest foreclosure rates in the country right now.

Communities that have greater than or equal to 1% foreclosure rate grew at 4 times the national average

Sprawl in the last 15 years has been well documented. The combination of cheap land and cheap gas allowed builders to create more homes in areas further afield from metropolitan centers. However, as gas prices and adjustable mortgages rates rose, the people who had been lured out to the fringe began to struggle to make their payments. Some folks were apparently spending upwards of 25% of their household incomes just getting to work.

The population growth rate for the US in the period of 2000-2003 was about 0.7%. In zip codes greater than or equal to 1% foreclosure rate (national average is about 0.3%), the growth rate during that '00-'03 period was 4.3 times the national average. As you can see from examining the maps, there is a direct link between where foreclosures are the worst and where sprawl is the norm.

As we progress through turbulent economic times, we should be more conservative in our building and growth policies. The message is clear: sprawl predicated on cheap energy is not sustainable for the environment or American prosperity. Fortunately, EDF Staff has been working on this issue for years. In testimony before the Senate this year, Andy Darrell made the case to reduce our dependence upon foreign oil by investing in our transit infrastructure. Jim Tripp, EDF's General Counsel has long been an advocate for smart growth initiatives, especially in the New York City area. His team and I are working on growth alternatives in the New York Highlands area just upstate from the city. And in one of the areas hit worst by the foreclosure crisis, Kathryn Phillips has been advocating for an innovative regulation that could help clean up the Central Valley's air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and encourage smart growth alternatives.

96 turbines providing up to 346 megawatts of electricity generation will start providing juice in 2013.

Where are all of these turbines going to go? Approximately 16-20 miles offshore, where the highest wind capacity is, and pretty far out of view. How might this trend affect you? Do you care about seeing turbines offshore, even if they are 16-20 miles away? Are you willing to sacrifice your view for a clean energy future?

The map below shows wind power potential for the mid-atlantic states. The data comes from The National Renewable Energy Lab. As you can see, it looks like much of the mid-atlantic has wind resources well offshore, and Lake Erie has some promise as well.

My friend Pamela Fox, who is a lead mapping programmer over at Google, blogged last week about a new interface for google maps, where you can specify your chosen mode of transportation: for their directions engine.

This is a result of people like you and me asking Google to step up and walk the walk with their sustainability initiatives.

Can you think of any cool ways to use this new service? Feel free to let me know about it!

Much has been made recently regarding ranking sustainable cities in the US and the world. I decided that this would make an interesting layer for the Climateatlas, so I created a database (though still incomplete) that you can perouse via a map.

What's going on where you live?

It has been quite a year so far for the lower 48. Midwestern Floods in June and this month as a result of Hurricane Ike were the largest since 1993: which was supposed to be the "100 year flood". I guess they need to revise that entire concept within the context of climate change.

Meanwhile, California is in the midst of a drought that threatens water supplies for the state and created ideal conditions for the ridiculous number of fires in late spring…extremely early for fires to be blazing in the state.

Across the country in the southeast, a historic drought continued its grip on a 5 state area centered around northwestern South Carolina. Relief came with a fury, as tropical storm Fay and Hurricane Gustav pounded the area relentlessly in a fashion consistent with global warming models.

This and September hasn't even ended yet. More to come…

Long modeled to be the first and worst to feel it, the Arctic is proving the models correct. The sea ice extent this year is the second lowest ever recorded, following last year's performance.

Check out these awesome animations from the Goddard Space and Science Center…

The Houston Chronicle has published an excellent interactive storm damage map that allows citizen journalists to map what they see in terms of damage. Thankfully, the loss of human life is small so far, but much of Galveston hasn't been searched yet.

The New York Times has also created an interactive map that shows pictures of the damage, as well as the area of the worst storm surge in the area.

The Boston Globe has added some incredible pictures of Ike's aftermath.

Hurricane Ike is in the Gulf of Mexico after smashing Cuba, is likely to become a category 3 hurricane, and is headed towards the Texas coast. With all that in mind, I found the Texas storm surge risk data, and made the map above.

South Carolina seems like the most likely landfall for Hanna, which could bring some storm surge and flooding to the northern part of the state. Please be advised: If you live within the projected landfall areas and within the category 1 or 2 areas of the map above, you may want to seek shelter inland!

Climate Progress today reported on a new article in the journal Science showing new estimates of sea level rise this century. The estimates are revised upwards to between 0.8 meters and a full 2 meters by the end of the century.

I created an interactive map back in June that used the EPA's own data to show what the effects of sea level rise will be like in the lower 48. Have another look at that map, which will clue you in on the potentially new geography of the United States in 2100.