setting NODE_ENV for node.js + expressjs application as a daemon under ubuntu

i got the daemon working alright with these instructions: http://kevin.vanzonneveld.net/techblog/article/run_nodejs_as_a_service_on_ubuntu_karmic/

but because this starts the application in DEVELOPMENT mode, the log file gets spammed with socket.io debug logs.

i tried setting the NODE_ENV to production in the upstart-conf-file but had no success.

script
    export HOME="/root"
    export NODE_ENV=production

    exec /usr/local/bin/node /where/yourprogram.js >> /var/log/node.log 2>&1
end script

didn't work.