Imminent Domain and Energy Patents

If the government can take away my house to build a strip mall for the community why can it not take away key energy patents from Big Oil and Big Automotive to produce a super efficient car?

The government could take the patents and then demand any college that gets money from them design and produce prototype high efficiency cars.

Unfortunately, those who profit from oil are the government. Why would they do anything to hurt the bottom line?

Your idea is original though.

Why in the world would it be a good thing for the feds to vacate patent rights for anyone? Besides, since that ridiculuous Supreme Court case on Emminent Domain, many states have enected laws forbidding the taking of private property for such a purpose--and more states are following suite rapidly.

If the public at large wanted "super high efficiency" cars then they would be built. It would be idiotic for a car company to not respond to the desires of it's customers--if they did not, some other company would.

[edit on 22-11-2005 by Astronomer68]

Yes, we do want highly efficient cars, absolutely! I feel I have a lot of people who would agree with me on that point.

Troy

The government (more like the politicians) has been getting rich on kickbacks from the Oil Companies & Car Companies, so why would they shuck their wallet out the door?

The answer is, they won't, at least not until they can make more money somewhere else, or some way else, like they just did with the Tabacco companies in court.

I think one of the ways they will make better money, is when they start working on a totally new way of doing things, like magnetic roads (think Minority Report & I Robot) & going to a whole new system that they can manipulate however they see fit.

As for taking your house away to build a strip mall, they'll do whatever they want, taking away your house is a small thing, they're already taking away your rights in the Constitution, so which is more important to you?

I think you picked a good topic to discuss on here, & you will get many responses to your query. Go on, give yourself a pat on the back, you deserve it.