The adults simply lacked the nerve, resolve, or leadership to take the necessary initiative in this time of crisis. We met their apathy with Greta's motto: No more excuses.

So we hammered them with questions in public forums, asking things like: Where does your electricity come from? Why did greenhouse gas emissions increase by 3% in Iowa last year, largely due to industrial agriculture? Why don’t we have solar panels on our schools, and why aren’t we training young people to work in the new clean energy economy? Why do we import most of our food in the breadbasket of the heartland? We also did the homework for them.

The end result: Our city council declared a climate crisis this past month, mandating that our local policies fall in line with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) criteria for dramatic carbon reductions over the next decade. Earlier in the summer, our school district passed a similar resolution, giving a mandate to administrators to slash the district's carbon footprint and implement a climate curriculum.

Several months ago we were told these actions were absolutely impossible. But it was through the tactics we picked up from Greta that we made them possible.

The strikes served as a focal point in an age of distraction. We had to create tension, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, to get beyond half-truths and rise from the dark. Our crew of climate strikers may have provided the thunder, but Greta was the lightning rod for this remarkable turnaround in real climate action.

Thousands of American students are now leading strikes in towns, cities, and states across the country. We are united with strikers from around the world — from Iowa to Italy to Uganda to Australia. Recognizing that many impacted countries have a carbon footprint that is a fraction of our own, we also understand that climate justice is more than a slogan: We have to think critically about how pushing for action will benefit those who bear the least responsibility for and the worst impacts of the climate crisis.

Strikes are not new to our families. Like many Americans, we come from a long line of abolitionists, civil rights activists, and labor union families that have walked the picket line as teachers, defended United Farm Workers, and led coal mining strikes. While Greta may have inspired us, the centuries of popular uprisings in U.S. history laid the groundwork for us.

And the strikes, of course, were the easy part. Transforming our town, cities, and farms into carbon-neutral systems is not a one-time event, but marks the launch of a new era for our generation.

This also means that adults must join the global strikes from September 20–27, as millions of young people lead our countries away from a fossil fuel future, through the White House in 2020, and beyond.

And if you need a reason why, know that the climate strikes have served as our generation’s doorstep to democracy — no small feat given how often we hear that we need to engage politically. But it was a Swedish student, not a celebrity, asking us to rock a vote that reminded us to take that first step forward.

Thank you, Greta. Welcome to the United States. Don’t pay attention to the naysayers.

Want more from Teen Vogue? Check this out: How to Take Direct Action on the Climate Crisis at Your School This Year