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new investments in education. The Administration has proposed a majorinitiative to support and improve community colleges, which are a neglectedbut critical link in our education system. It has also proposed increasing PellGrants, and is taking steps to simplify the student aid application process sothat eligible students are no longer discouraged by a complicated processfrom even applying for aid. All of these actions will help to achieve one ofthe President’s key educational goals for the country—that the proportion ofadults with a college degree be the largest in the world by 2020.Years of schooling14Figure 1-7Mean Years of Schooling by Birth Cohort131211109871900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000Year of 21stbirthdayNotes: Years of schooling at 30 years of age. Methodology described in Goldin and Katz(2007).Sources: Department of Commerce (Bureau of the Census), 1940-2000 Census IPUMS, 2005CPS MORG; Goldin and Katz (2007).Transforming the Energy Sector and Addressing Climate ChangeClimate change and energy independence present a very differentlong-run challenge. Continued reliance on fossil fuels is leading to thebuildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and is changing our climate.Left unaddressed, these trends will have increasingly severe consequencesover time. What is more, the United States imports the majority of the oilit uses, much of it from sources that are potentially subject to disruption.Chapter 9 analyzes how economic policy can play a critical role inmoving the United States toward a clean energy economy that is less dependenton fossil fuels and fossil fuel imports. Slowing climate change requires36 | Chapter 1