I would advise Mr. Johnson to make and distribute copies of the working specifications of his engine, and both send them all over the US and post them on the Internet. If a revolutionary device is invented and would clobber entrenched industries, there will be no way to make money off it with the status quo as is.
The only way to break the deadlock is to offer such an invention as a public service, with no thought to marketing it. Those industries large enough, wealthy enough and immoral enough to protect their turf by suppression are helpless in the face of gifts.
