By "local" I hope you just mean the moon and mars. The other planets (minus some moons around Jupiter and perhaps Saturn) are good for nothing but staring at. The moon has no resources except maybe some hidden frozen water. We'd still be dependent on mother earth and I dont think removing resources for good is a good idea. When we can get to mars in a week or so, then we can talk.
That's freedom hatin' language.
I think the general consensus is that the asteroid belt is a great place to start. Lots of metals, hydrocarbons, minerals, all sorts of highly useful stuff just floating around. Even if we don't colonise them, we could harvest the resources there for a long time to make up the Earth's shortfall.
Kill a whole bunch of people and eat them. Use any un-edible parts to make tools and weapons. Take over large parts of the world using this advanced technology. Subjugate those who disagree, resist or just look silly. Bring all the hot chicks to me. Use the Weaver stance.
