In a cap-and-trade system, the government sets total allowable national emissions of CO2 per year and requires any firm that causes CO2 emissions to have a permit per ton of CO2 emitted. If the government sells these permits in an auction, the price of the permit would be a cost to the firm in the same way as a carbon tax – and with the same resulting increases in consumer prices.
在“总量管制和排放交易”系统中，政府对国家每年可以排放二氧化碳的总量给出一个标准，对那些排放二氧化碳的公司，要求他们领取一定的执照。政府再对这些牌照进行竞价拍卖，如此一来，这些公司将会增加一定的成本，就如同碳税收一样——变相提高了产品的价格。“总量管制和排放交易”系统实际上就相当于一种税收，只是不这么称呼而已。