ensure that npm environmental config gets used

Fixes npm/npm#6483.

/cc @iarna for review / knowledge-sharing @wilmoore because he identified this bug.
While we are at it; should the starting version of `1.0.0` be reconsidered? Does anyhow really start at `1.0.0` with their packages? I personally start at `0.0.0`, then when ready to first publish a new package, I do `npm version minor`. I suspect most people do something similar, if not exactly the same thing. Thoughts?