Jay Field

Energy companies are using a drilling technique known as fracking to extract natural gas underground. Many people raise questions about the environmental impact, but there is no doubt fracking has produced lots of natural gas and driven down the price. That has led energy-hungry manufacturers to build plants in fracking hot spots like Texas and Pennsylvania. But even in old factories — far from the drilling or even the pipelines — cheap natural gas is providing a competitive edge.

Protests at Canadian seafood processing plants stymie Maine lobster trappers, and after a summer seafood supply glut, an escalating price war is preventing trappers from getting their goods to market.

Last weekend, Mitt Romney narrowly defeated Ron Paul in the Maine caucuses. But rural Washington County, considered a Paul stronghold by his supporters, delayed its caucus until this Saturday because of bad weather. Even though the state party will not revise the straw poll total, Paul's supporters are defiant.

Unseasonable temperatures and lack of snow have a lot of New Englanders singing the blues. In Maine, snowmobiling, ice fishing and Nordic skiing are a big part of the winter economy. Downhill ski areas are making due with man-made snow, but those other industries have no choice but to wait for Mother Nature.