Do people see clean energy investments as delivering local economic benefits? That is, investments producing well-paying jobs that last and use the local workforce? Compared to careers in healthcare, for example, people are more skeptical of the local economic benefits of the clean energy industry. While our surveys show that the national public holds these industries in better regard than coal, for example, this gap declines in areas with more fossil fuel-intensive industries. Our interviews with energy companies confirm these findings. We also discuss the tax revenue challenges communities face when they have long depended on a single revenue source and clean energy does not always support local finances.