: 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
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
The Obama Administration’s major climate initiative was based on cap-and-trade, which allows companies to buy and sell emission allowances. Nicholas Lemann, The New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2024 Repealing cap-and-trade Washington's cap-and-trade law puts a price on greenhouse gas emissions, and also requires some of the state's biggest polluters to reduce their carbon footprint over time. Melissa Santos, Axios, 21 Oct. 2024 Republicans voiced concerns that prices will continue to go up next year under changes to the cap-and-trade program and the state’s low carbon fuel standard. Taryn Luna, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2024 With cap-and-trade dead in the Oregon Legislature, Brown had issued an executive order mandating statewide controls on greenhouse gas emissions. Mckenzie Funk, ProPublica, 13 Sep. 2024 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

Dictionary Entries Near 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 5 Nov. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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