diff --git a/example/cubefile b/example/cubefile
index 6d07ca3..c310da6 100644
--- a/example/cubefile
+++ b/example/cubefile
@@ -1,15 +1,24 @@
+CC = (getenv CC)
+
+if (=s $CC "") [
+    echo "no compiler found, using cc"
+    CC = "cc"
+] [
+    echo "using compiler:" $CC
+]
+
 rule all test
 
 OBJ = (strreplace (glob "*.c") ".c" ".o")
 
 rule test $OBJ [
     echo " LD" $target
-    shell cc -o $target $sources
+    shell $CC -o $target $sources
 ]
 
 rule %.o %.c [
     echo " CC" $target
-    shell cc -c -o $target $source
+    shell $CC -c -o $target $source
 ]
 
 rule clean [] [
diff --git a/main.cc b/main.cc
index 4f4ed8f..ca4e2de 100644
--- a/main.cc
+++ b/main.cc
@@ -266,10 +266,13 @@ static int ob_print_help(ConstCharRange a0, ostd::Stream &os, int v) {
                "  -f FILE\tSpecify the file to run (default: cubefile).\n"
                "  -h\t\tPrint this message.\n"
                "  -j N\t\tSpecify the number of jobs to use (default: 1).\n"
-               "  -e STR\t\tEvaluate a string instead of a file.");
+               "  -e STR\t\tEvaluate a string instead of a file.\n"
+               "  -E\t\tIgnore environment variables.");
     return v;
 }
 
+static bool ignore_env = false;
+
 int main(int argc, char **argv) {
     ObState os;
     ConstCharRange pn = argv[0];
@@ -290,7 +293,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
     ConstCharRange fcont;
 
     int ac;
-    while ((ac = getopt(argc, argv, "C:f:hj:")) >= 0) {
+    while ((ac = getopt(argc, argv, "C:f:hj:e:E")) >= 0) {
         switch (ac) {
         case 'C':
             if (!ostd::directory_change(optarg))
@@ -307,6 +310,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
         case 'j':
             os.jobs = ostd::max(1, atoi(optarg));
             break;
+        case 'E':
+            ignore_env = true;
+            break;
         default:
             return ob_print_help(argv[0], ostd::err, 1);
             break;
@@ -346,6 +352,19 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
         }
     });
 
+    os.cs.add_command("getenv", "s", [](cscript::CsState &cs, const char *en) {
+        if (ignore_env) {
+            cs.result->set_cstr("");
+            return;
+        }
+        const char *ret = getenv(en);
+        if (!ret || !ret[0]) {
+            cs.result->set_cstr("");
+            return;
+        }
+        cs.result->set_str_dup(ret);
+    });
+
     cs_register_globs(os.cs);
 
     if ((!fcont.empty() && !os.cs.run_bool(fcont)) || !os.cs.run_file(fname))