cap-and-trade
adjective
: 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
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California’s cap-and-trade program places a price on greenhouse gas emissions that the oil and gas industry incur, and these costs are passed onto the consumers at the gas pump.
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Austin Gae, Oc Register, 3 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
Carbon pricing works either by requiring an emitter to pay the government a tax per ton of carbon dioxide emitted or by implementing a cap-and-trade system, in which the government sets a cap on aggregate emissions and firms buy and sell carbon allowances to stay under that cap.
—Jessica F. Green, Foreign Affairs, 7 Nov. 2025
But several Democratic affordability bills drew GOP opposition, notably the extension of the cap-and-trade program aimed at limiting climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions, which critics said would further raise gas prices.
—Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Sep. 2025
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Austin Gae, Oc Register, 3 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
Carbon pricing works either by requiring an emitter to pay the government a tax per ton of carbon dioxide emitted or by implementing a cap-and-trade system, in which the government sets a cap on aggregate emissions and firms buy and sell carbon allowances to stay under that cap.
—Jessica F. Green, Foreign Affairs, 7 Nov. 2025
But several Democratic affordability bills drew GOP opposition, notably the extension of the cap-and-trade program aimed at limiting climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions, which critics said would further raise gas prices.
—Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cap-and-trade
Cite this Entry
“Cap-and-trade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cap-and-trade. Accessed 13 Dec. 2025.
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