Fortescue iron ore boss Dino Otranto has warned the State Government against trying to untangle the green tape by making carbon pollution a purely federal environmental issue.

It comes as Fortescue founder Andrew Forrest also weighed in on Tuesday in the renewable energy debate, telling Sydney radio station 2GB that Australia’s dependence on fossil fuels meant the country was beholden to price manipulation by Russian President Vladimir Putin or the “oligarch in the Middle East.”