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"Already we are seeing communities that are being threatened," said Rep. Reggie Joule, D-Kotzebue, the bill's prime sponsor. Due to the warming, Alaska villages and infrastructure are being assaulted by coastal erosion, thawing permafrost, more severe storms and floods, he said.

Global warming in Alaska also could hurt Alaska's "golden goose" by shortening the exploration period for oil and gas, Joule said. In Canada, government scientists also have highlighted permafrost thawing as a potential safety problem for the country's $6 billion natural gas pipeline in the Mackenzie River Valley.

"How do we protect the infrastructure?" Joule asked the committee.

Rep. Carl Gatto, R-Palmer, told the committee that he doesn't believe that global warming is really occurring.

A University of Alaska scientist, a cruise ship company official and retired BP oil executive were among those who testified unanimously in favor of the bill at the Monday hearing.

The state is at the forefront of global warming and needs a business plan to deal with it, said Brian Davies, the retired BP vice president who now works with The Nature Conservancy.

Fishermen also spoke up in of favor creating the commission Monday. The ocean is warming and that has resulted in dramatic fluctuations in the species in Alaska waters, said Paula Terrel, a Juneau troller and representative for the Alaska Marine Conservation Council who attended the hearing but did not testify.

Homer fisherman Buck Laukitis told the committee he is worried about a "permanent El Nino" descending on Alaskan fisheries.

The state currently has only one employee who deals with the effects of global warming, according to Joule's staff. The employee, Christy Miller, in the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development, is the state's point person on coastal erosion. Miller's main job responsibility is coordinating the National Flood Insurance Program in Alaska.

Miller said Monday in an interview that the federal government is taking the lead on studying the erosion problem and potentially relocating villages that are in harm's way. "There's not much going on at the state level, unfortunately," Miller said.

Joule's proposed commission would research, consult and advise the Legislature on how to plan for emergencies and how to prevent or minimize future harm from global warming to the state.

Joule's inclusion of a member of the Alaska Conservation Alliance, an Anchorage-based environmental group, on the proposed commission was stripped out on a 7-2 vote with an amendment proposed by Rep. Ralph Samuels, R-Anchorage. That slot would now go to an Alaska Department of Natural Resources employee.

Samuels said he strongly believes that global warming is occurring in Alaska, but he worried that the environmental group's inclusion could create bias, or perceived bias, in the commission's findings.

The other commissioners would be: two senators, two representatives, and others selected from the Denali Commission, the University of Alaska's climate research program and the Alaska Federation of Natives. Remaining members would come from Alaskan towns and businesses, natural resource specialists, and a youth representative selected from an Alaska college or high school.

• Elizabeth Bluemink can be reached at elizabeth.bluemink@juneauempire.com.