Terraformation is not within our current grasp, but one day, it may be possible.
In the next three hundred years, small enclosed dome-colonies may be a possibility. But the journey TO Mars takes somewhere in the order of four months. The lack of solar energy is a concern, seeing as how far away it is. Maybe one day.
But I agree with the notion that our immediate planet is of a greater concern. Then still, money is being spent on far more retarded things these days. Such as war.