In brief: Agencies pushed on energy use
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has ordered federal agencies to more than double their renewable energy use over the next seven years, part of his ongoing attempt to find ways to cut carbon emissions without cooperation from Congress.
In a presidential memorandum released Thursday, Obama challenged agencies to get 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources by fiscal year 2020. The memorandum instructed agencies to try to meet that goal by increasing the use of wind, solar, geothermal and other energy sources to the extent that is “economically feasible and technically practicable.”
The new target is an incremental step toward achieving a previous green energy goal. The White House said it would help agencies achieve a 28 percent cut in greenhouse emissions by 2020, a benchmark Obama set in 2010. Agencies already have reduced their annual greenhouse gas emissions by more than 15 percent since Obama took office, the White House said.
L.A. sues Citigroup and Wells Fargo
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles city attorney sued Wells Fargo and Citigroup on Thursday, alleging the companies engaged in mortgage discrimination that led to a wave of foreclosures in minority communities during the housing crash.
The twin lawsuits, filed in federal court, are the latest fallout from the 2008 collapse of the subprime mortgage industry, which sparked a string of actions against various lenders by federal agencies and city governments.
The city attorney’s suits allege a “continuing pattern of discriminatory mortgage lending practices” in Los Angeles that violate the federal Fair Housing Act. They claim Wells Fargo & Co. and Citigroup Inc. at first refused to grant mortgages in minority neighborhoods – a practice known as redlining – and later targeted black and Hispanic neighborhoods for predatory loans, known as reverse redlining.
Wells Fargo and Citigroup both said the suits are meritless.
Teen accused of stealing car part from fatal Walker crash
LOS ANGELES – Authorities say they’ve arrested an 18-year-old accused of stealing part of the Porsche that “Fast & Furious” star Paul Walker was in when he was killed in a crash.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department says Jameson Witty was arrested at his LA-area home. A statement from the agency Thursday says another suspect who is 25 years old is outside California and arranging to surrender.
The Sheriff’s Department says the wreckage of the 2005 Porsche Carrera GT was being towed away after Saturday’s fatal crash when someone got out of a car following the tow truck, grabbed a part and drove away.
Detectives say they found the Porsche’s roof panel while searching a home in Canyon Country, a community north of Los Angeles.
It wasn’t clear if Witty has an attorney, and no phone listings for family could be found.