Politics of New England in four other New England States. Same-sex marriage is legal or has been legalized in all of the New England states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, as well as in the neighboring state of New York. The New England region has been noted for being the nucleus of the same-sex marriage movement in the United States, with the region having among the most widespread and earliest legal support of any region. In 2004, Massachusetts became the first state in the United States to legalize same-sex marriage, to be followed by three more states between October 2008
New England areas of production. Maine is ranked ninth for aquaculture, and has abundant potato fields in its northeast part. Vermont is fifteenth for dairy products, and Connecticut and Massachusetts seventh and eleventh for tobacco, respectively. Cranberries are grown in Massachusetts' Cape Cod-Plymouth-South Shore area, and blueberries in Maine. The region is mostly energy-efficient compared to the U.S. at large, with every state but Maine ranking within the ten most energy-efficient states; every state in New England also ranks within the ten most expensive states for electricity prices. As of January 2017, employment is stronger in New England than in the rest