Would a less than green Earth advance the colonization of off-world?
No. To travel and live off-world at this point in time would require massive amounts of hydrocarbon-based fuel. There simply is not enough to support life on Earth as it is today and explore the solar system to the extent necessary for developement and colonization. Think of how much fuel is necessary to simply lift the space shuttle into a low-Earth orbit; the majority of the payload is fuel. We have reached the law of diminishing returns. Unless and until we discover an alternate fuel source or means of overcoming gravity, we are basically stuck here on the ground. The cost of moving quantities of people into space is prohibitively expensive. Even if we develope a moon base, everything would necessarily be enclosed, all subsistence and air would have to be brought along. Science has much work to do before we head for the stars.
