: relating to or being a system that caps the amount of carbon emissions a given company may produce but allows it to buy rights to produce additional emissions from a company that does not use the equivalent amount of its own allowance

Examples of cap-and-trade in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The proposal also lays out how to spend money from California’s signature cap-and-trade program, which sets limits on greenhouse gas emissions and allows large polluters to buy and sell unused emission allowances at quarterly auctions. Los Angeles Times, 10 Jan. 2026 The money comes from revenues generated by the state’s cap-and-trade program and an air pollution regulation fund. Linh Tat, Daily News, 9 Jan. 2026 Yet the project is dependent now on taxpayer subsidies, with the Legislature last year guaranteeing $1 billion in annual funding from the cap-and-trade system for the next 20 years. The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 23 Dec. 2025 During his term, the state has solidified its cap-and-trade regime, crafted new climate disclosure rules, and, in an about face, supported a continuation of nuclear power. Justin Worland, Time, 14 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for cap-and-trade

Word History

First Known Use

1995, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of cap-and-trade was in 1995

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Cite this Entry

“Cap-and-trade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cap-and-trade. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.

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