Jim Wright stepped out of the room last week while his fellow Railroad Commissioners voted to renew the permit for Eagleford Recycling LLC, an oilfield waste company to which he has financial ties.

It was an unusually public recognition of his ongoing financial stakes in companies that are regulated by the Railroad Commission.

The agency, which regulates oil and gas extraction and disposal, is led by three elected commissioners. Wright, a Republican elected in 2020, touts his experience in the oilfield waste industry as an asset to his work as a commissioner. He continues to serve as president of one oilfield waste company and holds stock in several others, according to financial disclosure statements . Advocates have called for stricter conflict of interest protocols at the Railroad Com

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