An interesting view on the topic.
There are a handful of companies reaching for outer space for one reason or another. I think you are correct that it will start with unmanned vehicles first. Space mining could be hugely profitable.
One thing that may serve as a buffer from the un-terraforming of Earth is the very real prospect of a rapidly declining birthrate in the face of a whole generation of elderly that will die off over the next decade or so. Population collapse is happening in several countries right now, and will happen rapidly across the world. Less people in the face of improving farming practices, robotic production methods, etc. the GDP of nations will create a world of potential excess. The changes in our climate due to rising CO2, methane, and temperature has been met with some die offs, migrations, and extreme weather, but in other areas, has caused an increase in vegetation in the northern parts of the world. The Earth is trying to adapt. For all the melting of the glaciers in the northern latitudes, it hasn't resulted in the catastrophic sea level rise that many were predicting, at least not yet. Something is definitely going on. There is no doubt that there is, however, there appears to be adaptive mechanisms in place, variables that appear to be serving as a buffer that some of the scientists are not accounting for, resulting in some inaccuracies in their predictive models.
I am just telling myself and my children to be open-minded and optimistic, but also informed, eyes open, and be prepared to adapt and overcome. The future is unknown, but our world is changing rapidly in many ways. Humans can make it better or worse, the choice is up to us.
Capitalism makes the world go round. The big money interests heavily influence world governments, policies, media, transportation, food distribution, education, and information. They want to control a populace of "dullards" who are just smart enough to work for them, not smart enough to ask questions, and are being distracted by entertainment. They aren't going to give up on that. This strategy has worked for at least 2000 years. All intelligent people can do is be aware of what they are doing and try not to fall victim to their influences. The dullards will just fall in line like sheep in a herd whilst being glued to their electronic devices that entertain them.