: 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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent changes to what used to be known as the state’s cap-and-trade program by the California Air Resources Board are behind that funding uncertainty. Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 11 June 2026 That includes the state excise tax, the federal gas tax, state and local sales taxes, a storage tank fee, and costs tied to California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard and cap-and-trade program. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, Oc Register, 31 May 2026 Roughly half of the money has been given to utilities to minimize cap-and-trade’s impact on consumer costs. Dan Walters, Mercury News, 15 May 2026 His plan is light on specifics but includes defending the state’s cap-and-trade program. Sophie Austin, Fortune, 29 Apr. 2026 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 17 Jun. 2026.

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