That report is pitiful. Correlation doesn’t mean causation. Otherwise, telephones “cause” heart disease (you should see the correlation!).
I’ve never understood the left’s problem with “sprawl” anyway. Talk about inventing a problem out of something good — we have plenty of room to grow.
It’s tempting to think the governing reason behind the “sprawl” complaint is: If X happens in America, then X must be bad; find a way to badmouth X.