The purpose of cap and trade is that you don't want to micromanage the process. Do you really think that the government can perfectly plan how much pollution is

The purpose of cap and trade is that you don't want to micromanage the process. Do you really think that the government can perfectly plan how much pollution is necessary in every single business down to the lawnmowers? If you hand too many certificates to a single company, that company needs to move the certificates to the other companies that exceeded their limit, but if you just give it to them for free, they have zero incentive to cut pollution.