The Obama administration’s proposed new rules on power plant carbon emissions have been cause for celebration among U.S. climate-change activists, many of whom believe the policy sets the stage for a surge in clean energy and energy efficiency investment. (See related story: “Four Key Takeaways from EPA’s New Rules for Power Plants.”)

Greentech Media’s Stephen Lacy captured the view well with a piece headlined, “The Federal Government Just Announced the Biggest Clean Energy Boost Since the Stimulus.”

But if things might be looking up in the United States, where cleantech investment had stalled in recent years, the global picture is less rosy, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). In a report delivered right on the heels of the U.S.