Maps by Center for Neighborhood Technology. Click above to see a larger image.

The organization ClimatePlan wants people, as its name implies, to do something about climate change and, specifically, sprawl that contributes to the burning of fossil fuels. As part of a series of emails on the topic to those who work in government, the above maps were included to show how much Southern Californians spent on gasoline in 2000 and 2008, by amount per household.

The result isn’t exactly shocking — everyone knows the price of gasoline has soared in the past few years. Still, the maps provide a pretty dramatic view of the degree to which they have increased. In 2000, most So Cal households were spending between $900 and $2,700 in gas. In 2008, those same households were spending $1,800 and up, according to the maps — with many households dishing out more than $3,600. Ouch!

The maps were assembled by the Center for Neighborhood Technology. Here’s a link to their website where you can build similar maps using a variety of different criteria.