On the 23rd August, 2005, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California issued an order denying a motion for summary judgment (that is, allowing the case to continue to full trial) in the matter of Friends of the Earth, Inc and others versus officers of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im), both wholly-owned corporations of the United States government. Although received with far less fanfare, this judgement is an important milestone in a process that may ultimately have more impact on climate change than the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol.