You need to try doing :
sudo env
root mustn't be allowed to see environment the way "we" do.
The Sudoers Manual has this to say...
Since environment variables can influence program behavior, sudoers provides a means to restrict which variables from the user's environment are inherited by the command to be run.
... and ...
By default, the env_reset option is enabled. This causes commands to be executed with a minimal environment containing the TERM, PATH, HOME, MAIL, SHELL, LOGNAME, USER, USERNAME and SUDO_ variables in addition to variables from the invoking process permitted by the env_check and env_keep options.
My solution was :
# Create a sudoers extension file and authorize passing JAVA_HOME, M2_HOME, etc into new environment
cd ~/
rm -f neededBy*
echo 'Defaults env_keep+="JAVA_HOME M2_HOME CATALINA_HOME TOMCAT_USER"' > neededByTomCat
chmod 0440 neededByTomCat
sudo cp neededByTomCat /etc/sudoers.d/
I hope this helps,
Hasan