¡Viva La Borinqueña! 5 Climate Hope Messages from Bad Bunny's Superbowl Show

When Bad Bunny performed at Super Bowl LVIII, we saw a climate story hiding in plain sight.

Here are five moments that gave us climate hope:

1. “El Apagón” Was Not Just a Song

Credit: Earthjustice

As Earthjustice noted, singing “El Apagón” (the Blackout) brought Puerto Rico’s power grid crisis onto the biggest entertainment stage in the country. Climate change intensifies storms, such as when Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico in 2017 and left it dark for months. Storms expose fragile infrastructure, and fragile infrastructure leaves communities in the dark. He did not deliver a policy speech but gave a reminder on national television. Energy systems are climate systems. Hope begins with honesty. Read more about Earthjustice's fight for a clean energy transition including how to support the campaign!

2. People Became the Grass

Credit: Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times via Getty

One of the most striking visuals was dancers standing in as blades of grass, transforming the stadium floor into living landscape. It felt symbolic in the best way. We are not separate from land; we are not spectators to environmental change. We are the ecosystem. When climate shifts, it is human bodies that feel it first. Turning people into grass flipped the narrative. Nature is us, and that gives us hope.

3. Land Took Center Stage

Credit: NBC

Sugarcane imagery grounded the performance in rural Puerto Rico, reminding us, as noted by BET, of the "centuries of Carribean labor and industrial slavery" that "built the wealth of the Americas." In current times, Caribbean farmers face rising heat, unpredictable rainfall and stronger hurricane, and climate disruption reshapes food systems before it shows up in headlines. Placing land in the center of spectacle reminded millions what sustains us: soil matters.

4. Culture Was Not Edited for Comfort

Credit: EFE

The performance centered Puerto Rican identity without sanding down its history. Climate change is not just environmental. It is cultural. When harvests fail, when coastlines erode, when blackouts stretch on, identity absorbs the impact. Celebrating language, music and rural life while acknowledging struggle is climate justice in practice. Protecting culture is climate work.

5. Joy Refused to Leave the Stage

Credit: Esquire

There was rhythm. Pride. Collective movement. There was even a live, real wedding that took place! Climate narratives often swing between despair and detached corporate optimism. This offered something steadier. Joy as defiance. Dancing does not erase vulnerability. It builds resilience.

At ClimateHope.us, we believe culture moves climate farther than charts alone ever could. A halftime show cannot rewrite policy. But it can remind millions that land and people are intertwined. And when people stand in as grass under stadium lights, it becomes clear: We are the landscape. Protecting it means protecting each other.

Take Action and Support

⚖️ Advocate, Defend, Support: Read about active climate cases and policy battles through Earthjustice, including their ongoing campaign to support a clean energy transition in Puerto Rico. Because sometimes climate hope looks like a really good lawyer.

🎙️ Listen, Reflect, Stay Informed: Tune into Climate One's recent encore podcast of Solar Power to the People, featuring among others, Arturo Massol-Deyá

Executive Director of Casa Pueblo de Adjuntas in Puerto Rico. Also, check out “DtMF” by Bad Bunny. Sit with the mood, the memory and the sense of place. Culture carries context that policy alone cannot. Let the music deepen the story.

🌍 Engage, Commit, Participate: Take action through Global Citizen. Sign petitions. Contact leaders. Show up digitally and locally. Civic pressure shapes climate policy. Read about Global Citizen's stories and campaigns in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and for a fossil-free future.

🏛️ Get Local:Connect with the local chapter of The Climate Reality Project. Attend trainings. Join briefings. Build literacy around local policy and clean energy transitions. Read more about Climate Reality Project's work in Puerto Rico.