Brewer speech largely ignored by governors

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PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer delivered a brief keynote address at the Western Governors Association, though just two of her 19 colleagues showed up to hear it.

Brewer made a 3-minute speech to the group, a non-partisan association of governors and other leaders of states and territories in the American West. This year's conference focused on energy issues and Brewer raised some eyebrows there, too, the Huffington Post reported.

When asked by KTVK-TV, Phoenix, whether she believed in global warming, Brewer said: "Everybody has an opinion on it, you know, and I probably don't believe that it's man-made. I believe that, you know, that weather and certain elements are controlled maybe by different things."

Apparently upset at the question, Brewer later berated the reporter, asking, "Where in the hell did that come from?"

KTVK noted just two of Brewer's colleagues showed up for her keynote speech,though Arizona was home to the conference, hosted in Paradise Valley. Republican Gov. Gary Herbert of Utah is the group's president and Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado is its vice president. They were the two lone attendees at Brewer's speech, the TV station said.

Brewer is approaching the end of her first full term as governor after finishing out a partial term after taking office when Janet Napolitano left to become homeland security secretary. Brewer has raised the possibility she may challenge the state's two consecutive term limit law in court, which would appear to preclude her from running again in 2014.

She also has been mentioned as a potential 2016 presidential candidate, having met recently with conservative Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon Adelson, a major donor to Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich this year, the Huntington Post.